Below are answers to many common questions asked of the WSN Secretariat. Before contacting the Secretariat, please carefully read this document. In many cases the answers can be found below. 

Keep in mind that the Secretariat is an all–volunteer group. Please be patient when waiting for a response; we will get back to you as soon as we can. 

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What is the general schedule of WSN?

Over the last few years (of in person meetings), we have found that this general schedule seems to work well: Thurs afternoon: Student Workshop; Thurs evening: informal mixer, often at the hotel bar or nearby. Friday morning: Student and DEIC Symposia, Naturalist and Lifetime Achievement Awards; Friday afternoon: Poster Sessions; Friday evening: Attitude Adjustment Hour. Saturday morning: Presidential Symposium and contributed talks; Saturday afternoon: contributed talks, followed by the Business Meeting; Saturday evening: Presidential Address, Action, and Gala. Sunday morning: Contributed talks; Sunday midday: Closing plenary speaker, with the meeting usually ending around 1-2pm. Of course, this is subject to change.

Can I submit my abstract after the close of abstract submission and early-bird registration?

No. Abstracts must be complete and submitted prior to the close of abstract submission. Please do not wait until the last day or last hour to submit your abstract.

I know WSN has a “one presentation rule” like most national meetings. But can I present two talks anyway? How about 1 talk and 1 poster? How about 2 posters?

No. You can only be the presenting author on one talk OR one poster. You can be a co-author on other talks and posters.

I am early in my graduate career. Should I give a talk at this year’s WSN meeting?

It depends. We ask members only to present findings from mature projects that are in their later stages or are complete. If you only have preliminary data, please consider waiting to present at a future WSN meeting or present a poster instead of a talk. We request that major advisors continue to review and approve all student abstracts to assure the appropriateness and high quality of the research presented. See presentation guidelines for more details.

How should I prepare my abstract, or my poster, or my talk?

Please see WSN’s presentation guidelines.

I’ve made a mistake in my abstract submission (typos, formatting, missing authors, errors in the abstract, etc.). Can I make changes?

No. Please proofread your submission very carefully prior to the close of abstract submission (see presentation guidelines).

My inexperienced graduate student submitted an abstract without my approval and forgot to include me as a co-author. Can I be added as an author now?

No. You can decide to withdraw your talk/poster, but abstracts cannot be revised following submission. We remind all students to please have their abstracts reviewed and approved by their major advisor (and all co-authors) well in advance of the abstract deadline; see presentation guidelines for more info.

I recently graduated or am an early career scientist (e.g., postdoc).  Should I register as a student or regular member?

To register at the student rate, you must be currently enrolled as a student or have completed your terminal degree within the past year. WSN is exploring the possibility of adding another registration tier for Early Career Professional (e.g., under 35, completed the degree in the last several years). All others must register at the regular member rate.

Can you tell me when the schedule of talks will be posted?

The schedule of talks will be posted as soon as possible on the WSN homepage. Please know that the Secretariat is working very hard to finalize the schedule, and it is a very time consuming task. Because of how late we keep abstract submission open, we are usually only able to post the schedule a few weeks before the meeting. 

Does WSN have a one-day registration fee?

In general no there is not, but we do occasionally receive requests to bring groups of high school or local university students to the meeting for one day; we are happy to try to accommodate such requests at reduced cost. Please contact the Registration team [use to-be-created registration@wsn-online.org] for these specific requests.

Are there volunteer opportunities at the WSN meeting in exchange for reduced or waived registration fees?

In general, no, there are not unsolicited volunteer opportunities. The Student Committee coordinates a small group of volunteers, usually from a university nearby the meeting venue. Those students make up the volunteers that help work the registration booths, assist with AV, and other tasks. The Secretariat will email WSN members whenever external volunteer opportunities arise.

I need to cancel my presentation. Can I get a refund for my registration cost?

Please email secretariat@wsn-online.org with your registration number; we will fully refund your registration costs up to the close of abstract submission, but we are not able to refund any merchandise orders. Between the close of abstract submission and November 1, we will refund you 50% of your registration fee. After November 1 there are no refunds.

I have travel constraints, so there are certain times I may not be at the meeting to give a talk or a poster. Can I request a specific slot?

No, we cannot guarantee that you will be scheduled to talk on a particular day. Talks are organized into sessions by topic, and your talk could be scheduled for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, depending how the meeting schedule is arranged. If you submit an abstract for an oral presentation, you should plan on being available for all three days of the meeting. Contributed oral presentation sessions generally end around noon on Sunday. We strive to have all judged student presentations on Friday and Saturday, and speed talks are always on Friday.

The block of rooms at the hotel appears to be sold out. What should I do?

Unfortunately, the hotel only gives us a limited number of rooms at the discounted rate. Once those rooms are booked, there is nothing else we can do. The Secretariat will make efforts to suggest other local hotels, but we suggest that you be proactive in finding hotels nearby. If you are at a state school (often any state school, not just a school in the state where the meeting will be), many of the large hotel chains offer discounts for government travel. State schools generally qualify, and from our experience, the hotels rarely verify.

I pre-ordered merchandise, but then forgot to pick these items up when I was at the meeting.  Can you please ship them to me?

Unfortunately, no, we cannot ship merchandise by mail. Attendees are responsible for picking up any merchandise orders at the meeting. Please don’t forget to do this! Unclaimed merchandise may be sold at the end of the meeting.

I really loved the design of the T-shirt and other merchandise at the WSN meeting this year, but I did not order any during registration. May I purchase some at the meeting? Or by mail?

There may be a limited supply of additional merchandise for sale, but we recommend ordering it during registration to guarantee you can get these items. However, we lack the time and personnel to ship special orders for merchandise by mail. There may be limited merchandise from past meetings available at the next annual meeting.

Will there be accommodations for people with dietary restrictions, disabilities, financial constraints, etc?

Yes. Below are a number of ways in which WSN is working to increase access during WSN meetings.

Presentations: Subtitles will be auto-generated for all presentations and shown live on the big screen. The front row of seating is reserved for those who will benefit most from real-time captioning (e.g., attendees who are deaf or hard of hearing, people with learning disabilities, or those for whom English is a second language). If you have feedback on improving captioning for future meetings, please bring your thoughts to the Business Meeting or share with a member of the DEIC. 

Food: We work to ensure that vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options will be available whenever food is provided at the conference venue, subject to the availability from the vendor. We will make every effort to mark these options. If you have dietary restrictions that are not met, please let us know so that we can be more inclusive at future meetings. 

Restrooms: We hope to designate one or more restrooms as gender-inclusive for conference attendees, based on availability at the hotel. Please check posted signage during the meeting or ask a DEIC member if you have trouble locating a nonbinary restroom. 

Priority Seating (Poster Sessions and Socials): Seating is limited at poster sessions and events like the Attitude Adjustment Hour (AAH). We will provide priority seating to serve those with physical limitations (e.g., people with physical disabilities, attendees who are pregnant or accompanied by small children, elderly participants). Though everyone is welcome to use these seats, we ask folks to yield to anyone in greater need. 

Travel: The Student Committee developed a new format for student travel awards, using a standardized scoring rubric to generate fewer but more meaningful awards. The Student Committee will provide $500 awards to help offset the costs of attending the meeting. WSN has also created a Ride Share Board for people to coordinate travel to/from local airports. 

Affinity Group Mixers: Affinity group mixers are designed to help members from underrepresented groups gather, build community, and bolster a sense of belonging within WSN. BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, First Generation College Students (Past and Present), and Disability groups can be found on the schedule. Please note that you must identify as a member of the group that you intend to join.