NEWSLETTER
  Animal Behavior Society

The 53rd Annual Conference of ABS will be held in Columbia, Missouri
from Saturday, July 30, through Wednesday, August 3, 2016.
http://www.animalbehaviorsociety.org/2016/

Dear ABS members and friends –

As hosts of the ABS 2016 meeting in Columbia, Missouri, we are delighted to invite you to attend what promises to be a stimulating and excellent conference. There are many advantages to meeting in Missouri. 1) Our state is pretty much in the center of the USA, and Columbia is in the center of the state; therefore, Missouri will be driving distance for many and, even if you need to fly in, transportation should be easy to arrange and relatively economical. 2) The University of Missouri-Columbia, where the meeting will take place is a major university with plenty of dorm space, as well as nearby hotels, motels, and even a few B&Bs for those of you who may not want to stay on campus. There is an active and diverse downtown area, not far from campus, ideal for special dinners and nightlife. 3) Costs can be kept low, including both registration and housing. 4) For those of you who attended the Alaska meeting last year and found yourselves distracted by moose on campus, bears, glaciers and gorgeous mountains, not to worry – here you can concentrate exclusively on science! But this is not to say that Missouri is boring – see the listed activities in the nearby attractions section.

Our program committee is currently finalizing the program, and the line-up of plenary speakers and seminars is outstanding. Plenary speakers will include Vanessa Ezenwa, of the University of Georgia, giving a talk titled, "Parasites and Behavior: Old Ideas and New Insights". Juan Carlos Reboreda, of the University of Buenos Aires, will give his talk, "Adaptations to brood parasitism in host generalist and host specialist cowbirds". Lauren O'Connell, from Harvard University, will present, "Parenthood on the brain: neural mechanisms of piggyback rides and nursing behavior in poison frogs". As well as the ABS President's Plenary by Emília Martins of Indiana University-Bloomington. Our keynote speaker will be the eminant primatologist and ethologist, Frans de Waal, presenting his talk titled, "Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals are?".

Conference Symposia will cover a range of timely topics, including: "Using Tinbergen’s Four Questions to Understand Emerging Conservation Concerns in Behavioral Toxicology", "New Frontiers in Animal Communication: In Honor of H. Carl Gerhardt", "Behavioral Genomics in Non-Model Systems", and "Comparative Canine Behavior".

Other highlights include contributed papers, poster sessions, the annual graduate student Allee Award session, the Charles H. Turner workshop for undergraduates (by invitation), a Public Day, and workshops both before and after the 5 day meeting. And, of special interest to many, we plan to revive our hilarious Acaoke tradition (Academic Karaoke) during this meeting.

In short, you can expect 2016 ABS conference to be intellectually stimulating but also lots of fun. So come, learn, present your latest fascinating research, attend the opening reception and final banquet, meet and make new friends, laugh - and maybe even dance!

In summary, we look forward to hosting the 2016 ABS meeting in Columbia, MO and hope that you will join us for a superb conference, and that you also will enjoy spending vacation time in our multifaceted state. Information on registration, conference events, housing options, transportation, and other issues will be posted later as details become available. Please check the web page regularly and register early.

We hope to see you in Columbia in July and August!

Johannes Schul, University of Missouri-Columbia	Zuleyma Tang-Martínez, University of Missouri- St. Louis

ABS 2016 Conference Website