Theme: Celebrating Evidence-Based Decision Making in Ontario and Abroad
February 25-27, Geneva Park, Orillia, Ontario
On February 25-27th, the Ontario Chapter of the American Fisheries Society hosted our 2016 Annual General Meeting and Conference at the YMCA—Geneva Park in Orillia, Ontario.
There were a total of 73 attendees including 32 students, 8 conservation authority representatives, 2 Fisheries and Oceans Canada representatives and 8 Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry representatives.
Our Keynote speaker was Legend of Canadian Fisheries Science and Management – Dr. Henry Regier. Dr. Regier spoke of Ontario’s fishery policy since Confederation, comparing it to more modern conservation movements in ecosystem contexts. View a synopsis and narrative of his presentation.
Listening to Dr. Regier speak, was a snap shot of his legendary career. You could relive the conservation movements, environmental impacts and overall fisheries management changes in his past experiences and immense amount of knowledge that seemed to permeate out of every inch of his being.
Phil Bird presented Henry a map of the Credit River watershed, depicting the 200+ sites sampled by Dr. Regier during the 1954 conservation report stream surveys. This and other watershed surveys around this time marked an important stage in conservation and fisheries research in the Province.
Fifteen students presented orally and twelve posters were displayed at this year’s AGM. Zachery Wells, from Concordia University was awarded the E.J. Crossman Award for best oral presentation, and the Ontario B.A.S.S. Nation (OBN) Award for best poster presentation was awarded to Karl Lamothe from the University of Toronto. Abstracts for both presentations can be found within the Annual Meeting Program. The 2016 Outstanding Mentor Award was won by Dr. Steven Cooke from Carleton University. Past President awards were presented to Ann Roochi and Sean Stuart by current Chapter President Lee Gutowsky.
Following the many fantastic talks on Friday, we were treated to another excellent dinner from the staff at Geneva Park. After dinner, everyone enjoyed our evening social which included a very well-received student mentoring event, raffle, and games.
There were a number of vendors that also participated in the AGM, including Hoskin Scientific, Lotek, and Envirolok Vegetated Environmental Solutions.
The conference, which was a huge success, would not be possible for all the hard work of Geneva Park staff, the AFS-OC Executive Committee, Student Subunit, and of course all those who attended and participated.
Photo Gallery
We would like to thank our sponsors and exhibitors who provided financial support and/or prizes. They include:
