State of the San Francisco Estuary Conference Web Banner

Call for Oral, Poster, and Creative Session Submissions

Submit an Abstract

The 17th Biennial State of the San Francisco Estuary Conference will be held in Oakland on October 28-29, 2025. The conference planning team is holding an open call for oral, poster, and creative session presentations. 

We invite abstracts that explore the challenges and opportunities we face in enhancing environmental health and community well-being as relevant to the San Francisco Estuary. Authors are encouraged to address collaborative, interdisciplinary, and/or engaged approaches to solving Estuary ecological and community health challenges. Abstracts may also touch on topics related to science, policy and management, socioeconomic issues, and environmental education programs. Additionally, we welcome creative sessions that offer non-traditional approaches to engaging in important conversations, whether through lightning round talks, poetry slams, collaborative workshops, networking opportunities and more. We strongly encourage abstracts to draw linkages to the four Goals in the 2022 Estuary Blueprint.  

  • Blueprint Goal 1: Sustain and improve the Estuary’s habitats and living resources. 
  • Blueprint Goal 2: Bolster the resilience of Estuary ecosystems, shorelines, and communities to climate change. 
  • Blueprint Goal 3: Improve water quality and increase the quantity of fresh water available to the Estuary. 
  • Blueprint Goal 4: Champion the Estuary. 

See more information on each abstract submission track and instructions for submission below.

For additional information, contact our Conference Coordinator:

Aurice Guyton (soeconferencecomms@gmail.com)

posters at soe 2019
Main stage Scottish Rite SOE 2024

The State of the San Francisco Estuary conference is opening the call for abstracts for oral presentation submissions, both for single presenters and for panels/collections.

Oral Presentation

Oral session proposals will be sorted into topic-based tracks with 3 – 5 session presenters. Oral session submissions should highlight the latest information about the region’s work to sustain and improve the Estuary’s habitats and living resources, water quality, climate resilience, and environmental stewardship.

Tracks will be moderated. The moderator will allow no more than 20 minutes per presenter with the ability to provide a visual (PPT) presentation while speaking. Given the number of abstracts expected to be submitted, some participants who request an oral presentation may be assigned a poster presentation. The assignment to a poster presentation will occur only if the applicant indicates their willingness on the abstract submission form. Your understanding and cooperation are greatly appreciated.

Oral Collection Session

There will be a limited number of Oral Collection sessions devoted to topics of particular interest to the Estuary community. Oral Collections will require a session title, the name of the session chair(s), a short (<300 words) description of the session topics, and a list of proposed presentation titles and authors. Each presentation proposed in the Oral Collection session must have its own submitted abstract by the abstract deadline.

The Oral Collection session presentations should be well integrated and representative of the current body of research on the topic. The Conference Planning Team may also work with the Session Organizer (the person submitting the proposal) to develop the final configuration, including the selection of the moderator and possible addition of related talks from the pool of general submissions.

Because of overwhelming demand for speaking slots, the length of a proposed Oral Collection session will be limited. Any proposed panels in the session should inclusively and equitably reflect a diversity of perspectives and participants presenting the discussion topic.

For additional information, contact the Conference Coordinator:

Aurice Guyton (soeconferencecomms@gmail.com)

Poster Presentation 

Posters will be displayed at the conference on October 28-29, 2025. A Poster Session Reception will be held in the early evening of October 28th. The reception will allow participants to present their findings in an informal setting and allow presentation of detailed technical information of individual topics and studies that cannot be covered adequately in sessions. In addition to technical/scientific posters, displays presenting information about policy and management, socio/economic issues, and environmental education programs will also be accepted. Poster topics must be relevant to the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary. We strongly encourage posters to draw linkages to the Estuary Blueprint. 

Poster Cluster 

At the conference, posters that cover a particular topic can be grouped together in a poster cluster. A poster cluster requires a chairperson to organize the cluster. The chairperson will prepare an overview poster that synthesizes information from individual posters into overall conclusions and/or applications of the results. The posters should be well integrated and complementary. Please adhere to the following submittal instructions: 

  1. Abstracts must be submitted for each poster within the poster cluster, including the overview poster. 
  2. Poster cluster proposals must submit a separate poster cluster submission form (one form per poster cluster). 
  3. Poster cluster proposals require a session title, name of the cluster chair(s), a paragraph (<200 words) describing content and focus of the cluster, as well as a list of poster titles and authors. 

Student Participation 

The conference coordinating committee encourages student participation from high schools, community colleges, undergraduate degree programs, and graduate degree programs. Awards will be given for the best student poster presentations. To qualify for a student award, you must have carried out the presented work while you were a registered student, you must make the presentation yourself, and you must indicate your desire to be considered for a student award on the abstract form. 

For additional information, contact the Conference Coordinator:

Aurice Guyton (soeconferencecomms@gmail.com)

 

Creative Sessions

New to the 2025 event, the Conference Planning team is soliciting ideas for Creative Session abstracts which move away from traditional oral or poster session arrangements. Non-traditional breakout session ideas can be wide-ranging, and proposals should look to engage audience members in creative or innovative thinking and activity. Some examples include lightning round talks, poetry slams, collaborative workshops, art creation, networking opportunities, community-building exercises, games, etc.

These sessions will be arranged throughout the two-day agenda as part of regular programming either in the morning or afternoon. The Conference Planning Team is intentionally leaving ample flexibility in how Creative Sessions are arranged but encourages submission presenters to articulate how the planned activities link back to Estuary stewardship, ecosystem and community sustainability, and the goals of the Estuary Blueprint.

All oral, poster, and creative session presenters must submit an abstract using the online submission form provided below. There is a 300-word limit on the abstract text. Please fill in all blanks on the form, including designating session topic and any special equipment needs. 

Click here to access the Oral Presenter, Poster Presenter, and Creative Session Submission Form 

Oral Collections and Poster Clusters must be submitted using the online submission form provided below (one form per oral collection/poster cluster).  These proposals will require a session title, the name of the oral collection/ poster cluster chair(s), a paragraph (<200 words) describing the content and focus of the session, as well as a list of talks or poster titles and authors.

Click Here to access the Oral Collection and Poster Cluster Submission Form 

Submission Instructions

First, click on the abstract submission form.

If you have an account in Omnipress, Sign In.

  1. At the sign in screen, enter your email address and password, then click Sign In.

If you do not have an account, create an account

  1. Click on the Create New Account button to register an account.
  2. Enter your email address, password and confirm password. Click the Sign up button.

The submission site will send you a “Confirm your account” email.

  1. Click on the turquoise button in your email labeled, “Confirm Account.”
  2. A pop-up will appear stating, “Thank you for confirming your email.”
  3. Click on the “Please click here to login.”

Fill out and complete the submission form

  1. Once logged in, a turquoise box will pop up at the top of your screen indicating you have created a submission. You will be in edit mode of that submission.
  2. Complete all the required fields on all the tabs.
  3. Click “Save” on the bottom right of your screen as necessary.
  4. Click “Submit” on the bottom right of your screen when you are ready to submit your abstract.

If you have any technical issues during sign in, please click on “Contact CATALYST Support” at the bottom of the sign in page. For additional help, please use this helpful guide.

Oral presenters, poster presenters, and creative session presenters will be required to register at the applicable registration rate.

For more information, contact the Conference Coordinator:

Aurice Guyton (soeconferencecomms@gmail.com)