San Marcos – Texas Groundwater Invertebrate Forum

Goal:

To bring together people in Texas who are working on subterranean biology so that knowledge and information can be shared and transferred and future efforts to increase knowledge of groundwater ecosystems can be coordinated.

Mission Statement:

The mission of the organizers of TGIF is to encourage collaboration and exchange of ideas and information, and to more efficiently and clearly convey and transfer information to those who need and/or use it.

Problem Statement:

Many people are working on groundwater organisms in TX, but sparse research coordination and exchange of information about the many diverse projects and efforts is a barrier to fully understanding groundwater biodiversity, and to the efficient dissemination and effective use of data for research and management purposes.

Forum Format:
Texas may host some of the world’s most biodiverse groundwater ecosystems. Despite the fact that this has been acknowledged for decades, little long-term coordinated research is focused on understanding the diversity, distribution, function, or importance of these organisms. Additionally, dissemination of information to researchers, regulators, managers, and the public is limited and sporadic.

The forum will consist of morning and early afternoon sessions that will provide an opportunity for people working on groundwater invertebrates to present their work, ideas, or plans to the community, and to seek input and advice. The objective of these sessions is to disseminate information and facilitate collaboration. Presentations by attendees will be 20 minutes, including time for Q/A after each.

Forum discussion topics
We request and solicit advance submission of discussion topics by potential attendees. After the afternoon break, topics and questions that were proposed in advance by attendees will be discussed in breakout groups or in a small panel discussion format with audience Q/A and participation.

Forum presentations
All attendees are encouraged to submit a topic that they would be willing to speak about for 15 minutes, with an additional 5 minutes for Q&A. Organizers will review the list of topics and presenters, and after organizing the schedule, will follow up with speakers to request a title and short abstract. Each speaker will be assigned one of 10 scheduled oral presentations.
Based on the list of topics submitted by attendees as being of interest, and the number of potential speakers that volunteer, organizers may also solicit speakers. Suggestions for invited speakers are also welcomed; please contact Benjamin Schwartz (bs37@txstate.edu) or Amelia Hunter (amelia_hunter@fws.gov) with questions or suggestions.

Find out more here on the Edwards Aquifer Research & Data Center (EARDC) website, or register for the event by clicking this link.