The 46th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting will be held in St. Petersburg, FL from November 15-17, 2024. Keep reading for more details about the meeting and how to register.
Registration is now open, and we are accepting abstracts for oral and poster presentations for the 46th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting.
Meeting Location
This year’s meeting will be held at the Continuing Education and Conference Center (CEC) at Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33711 in St. Petersburg, FL from November 15–17, 2024. Stay tuned for parking directions.
Registration
Early-bird registration discounts are available until October 18th.
Click HERE to Register. Detailed Agenda Coming Soon!
Registration costs include attendance at two days of presentations, on-site refreshment breaks, and Friday night social dinner at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve Visitor Center (dinner with vegan option available) + beer/wine (2 drink tickets). See field trip details below.
Boxed lunches available for purchase. Enjoy a view of the bay at Eckerd College’s beautiful campus.
Saturday, November 16th Awards Dinner at Tampa Bay Watch, $30.00 each. Don’t forget to purchase an extra ticket if you are bringing a guest – includes dinner and drinks.
Sunday, November 17th optional Field Trips: to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve (free) or Ferry Ride to Egmont Key ($18)
Lodging
Blocks of rooms have been reserved at the following locations:
The Beachcomber - 5.2 miles
- 6200 Gulf Blvd, St Pete Beach, FL 33706
- Use Group Code #26474 when booking.
- Book online.
Holiday Inn St. Petersburg West - 6.1 miles
- 1200 34th St N, St. Petersburg, FL 33713
- Use Group Code GTC when booking.
- Book online or by calling the hotel 727-322-0770 or IHG central reservations at 1-888-211-9874.
Terry Tomalin Campground at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve - 3.4 miles
- 2910 31st St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712
- 6 cabins, 18 campsites, and a group campsite
- Book online.
- Campground rules and additional information.
Our room blocks for this event will likely fill up quickly, so reserve your room early!
Sponsors
Please consider sponsoring the annual meeting of the Gopher Tortoise Council. These one-time donations go directly to defraying the costs of the annual meeting, meaning more of our organization’s resources can fund gopher tortoise conservation, research, and education.
Call for Abstracts
The deadline for submitting abstracts is October 18, 2024.
In addition to presentations about gopher tortoise biology, we welcome presentations on:
- commensals and other species associated with tortoises and southeastern upland habitats
- general ecology of upland pine ecosystems
- habitat management and restoration
- conservation initiatives
- policy, regulation, or economics
- monitoring and field techniques
- Successful and creative partnerships conserving Gopher Tortoises, habitat, or associated species
Abstracts should be 300 words or less and conform to the exact style of the Journal of Wildlife Management abstract format (see sample abstract HERE). The name, affiliation, address, and email of the corresponding author should be provided with the abstract. Please indicate if you wish to present an oral or poster presentation. Depending on the number of oral presentations received you may be asked to submit a poster. Abstracts must be submitted in MS Word (.doc or .docx format). Please submit abstracts via e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Full-length presentations will be strictly limited to 15 minutes, including 3 minutes for questions. An LCD projector will be provided. Overheads and 35 mm slides are not acceptable. Posters should be no larger than 48” x 36.”
Additional information and instructions for students:
- The first 20 students who submit an abstract and give a poster or talk at the 2024 annual meeting will each receive a $200 Travel Grant. See here for details: https://gophertortoisecouncil.org/grant-programs/32-bob-herrington-student-travel-grant
- Presentation Awards are given for the top three student oral presentations. See here: https://gophertortoisecouncil.org/awards/52-annual-meeting-student-award
- To be considered for these opportunities, 1) indicate clearly if you are an undergraduate or graduate student; 2) specify your institutional affiliation; and 3) copy the Chair of the Student Awards Committee, Betsie Rothermel (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) on your abstract submission.
Special Session: Disease Ecology of Gopher Tortoises and Their Commensals
Gopher Tortoise burrows are focal points of intra- and interspecies contact within upland ecosystems, and this contact likely leads to complex and poorly understood disease transmission dynamics. The Florida Student Chapter of the Wildlife Disease Association and GTC are co-organizing a session of talks to highlight this under-explored topic and bring together researchers working to understand vectors and pathogens of Gopher Tortoises and their commensals.
We invite participation from researchers whose work is uncovering these dynamics and improving our knowledge of relevant vectors and pathogens. Thus, please indicate in your abstract submission if you would like to have your talk considered for inclusion in this session. The organizing committee will review and respond to submissions soon after the October 18th abstract deadline.
The special session will be on Saturday November 16, time TBD.
Live and Silent Action
Both live and silent auctions will take place at this year’s meeting so bring your best items to contribute! Our auctions at the annual meeting support GTC’s grant programs. Please consider donating auction items at the meeting to raise money for environmental education, student research, and gopher tortoise day funding!
Meeting T-Shirts
The logo and t-shirt design for this year's meeting were created by St. Petersburg-based artist Kelly Quinn. More details on how to order your shirt for the meeting will be available soon!
Questions?
For more information contact Eric Sievers, GTC Co-chair and host for this year’s meeting (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Hope to see you all in November!
More information can be found on our website at: https://gophertortoisecouncil.org/annual-meeting