Dear Colleagues,

After much deliberation, the Scientific Coordinating Committee determined that this year's Annual Meeting (July 13-14) and Quarterly Project Meeting (July 15) will be held in-person at the Merrill Place Conference Center at Plymouth State University (PSU). This relatively new meeting space is well-designed for a group program such as ours. Optional onsite lodging is also available. I will be sending the formal registration announcement, with links to the registration form and PSU's lodging portal, shortly. The purpose of this email is to explain how the meeting will be organized this year.

Although the meeting portions of the event will be held at the conference center, there will be ample time spent together at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, in keeping with tradition! We hope you will attend the cook-out and barn dance the evening of July 13 and informal field trips the afternoon of July 14.

Merrill Place Conference Center

Meeting Room

COVID-19: At the present time there is no mask requirement for Plymouth State buildings. However, we ask that this be a "mask-friendly" event in keeping with Cary Institute guidance, which is:

to wear a mask in any group meeting;
to show respect to individuals who choose to wear a mask; and
to wear a mask and/or maintain distance if asked to do so.

We will open the meeting room doors to the outside to maximize the flow of fresh air (weather permitting). Breakfast and lunch will be served buffet-style in the lobby area adjacent to the meeting room. There will be some outdoor seating for meals if you would like that option. We will continue to monitor the pandemic and will provide updated guidance, as needed, closer to the event.

Registration Fee: Please note that we are charging one registration fee, heavily subsidized by the National Science Foundation LTER grant. The single $100 fee contributes to the extra costs incurred this year by hosting the event at an offsite venue, and includes breakfasts, lunches, and the cook-out and barn dance.

Presentation Sign-up: If you would like to give a talk at the meeting, please sign up on the registration form (arriving in the next email). If you know that you would like to present, but do not yet have a title or abstract prepared, there is a box that you can check allowing you to provide more details later. What is most important is to register early and indicate your interest in giving a talk early, as well. This will help immensely with our planning!

Optional Onsite Lodging: Please note that all rooms in PSU's Merrill Place Residence Hall, adjacent to the Conference Center, are very basic dormitory-style. They offer air conditioning, wireless internet connection, and writing desks, but no amenities. A pillow is provided, but guests must either bring their own linens or reserve a PSU linen packet (sheets, a blanket, and a cotton towel set) at an additional cost. Toiletries and hair dryers are not provided. You will find a link to the PSU lodging portal provided on the registration announcement (arriving in your Inbox soon).

Keep an eye out for the next email and please register early! It will be very helpful for planning purposes to know as soon as possible how many will be attending, and who would like to give a talk.

Please feel free to forward this email--as well as the next email containing links to the registration form and PSU lodging portal--to anyone interested!

Thank you,

Hazel

Hazel Westney

Assistant, Long-term Ecological Research Projects

Administrator, Campus Housing Program

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

PO Box AB / 2801 Sharon Turnpike

Millbrook NY 12545

845.677.7600 extension 171 / westneyh@caryinstitute.org

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I live along the Mahicannituck, the waters that are never still, on ancestral land of the Indigenous Muhheconneok and Munsee people.