BES Macro is the annual meeting of the BES macroecology and macroevolution SIG. Each year we aim to highlight all kinds of macro-scale research, across diverse taxa, timescales, and career stages. Whatever your speciality and career-stage, we hope you'll join us for three days of macro-fun!

Because 2022 is our 10th anniversary meeting we decided to try something different, so MacroFest 2022 was created. There are FOUR different options for attending MacroFest 2022…

• OPTION 1: BES Macro HQ. Sheffield University. UK.
• OPTION 2: BES Macro Brazil.
• OPTION 3: BES Macro ONLINE. Anywhere and everywhere.
• OPTION 4: BES Macro MINI HUBS. Various locations.

This Eventbrite page is for OPTION 1: BES Macro HQ. Sheffield University. UK. If you want to register for a different option please do not register here. This is for the Sheffield meeting only.

Details of the conference can be found below, or feel free to contact us on Twitter (@BESMacroecol) or by emailing macro@britishecologicalsociety.org with any questions.

LOCATION

The conference will take place in the Alfred Denny building Lecture Theatre, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.

See https://ssid.sheffield.ac.uk/campus-map/?location=alfred-denny-building

For details about travelling to Sheffield see information here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/visitors/maps-travel

STUDENT PLENARY 2022

This year's student plenary is Krizler Tanalgo https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Krizler-Tanalgo from the University of Southern Mindanao in the Philippines.

TALKS AND POSTERS

Talk slots are now full, but people can add talks to the online platform even if they cannot give them in person. Details will be sent after the registration deadline.

We will have slots for live talks at the meeting. Talks will either be 5 minutes or 12 minutes long. Every attendee wishing to give a talk, no matter how they attend, should prepare an online talk to upload to YouTube in advance of the meeting. These talks will need to be uploaded at least one week before the start of the meeting (you will receive details on how to do that). Organisers of in person meetings will choose their own program of talks, with a mixture of pre-recorded talks and live talks by attendees (biased towards live talks).

Talks should have captions if possible to make them more accessible. The main conference language is English but we are happy for people to record talks in other languages and/or provide captions in other languages and/or provide multiple versions of a talk in different formats if preferred.

Questions will be via the conference Slack. We hope speakers will take time to check for questions and respond to them throughout the meeting.

We are not organising formal poster sessions, but if you would prefer to upload a poster rather than a talk, or some kind of video poster, this is fine.

ACCOMMODATION

There are many accommodation options in Sheffield with easy access to the University of Sheffield campus. There are a number of hotel or AirBnB options in the city centre which is a 10-15 minute walk to campus.

Finally, there is accommodation available on the University of Sheffield campus in the halls of residence. Spaces are limited, however. Please see this link: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/accommodation/prospective/moving-our-accommodation/visitors.

If anyone is interested in room/apartment sharing feel free to organise this via our Twitter.

If you are totally stuck, or need guidance on suburbs, please contact the local organiser, Thomas Guillerme at guillert@tcd.ie.

FOOD AT THE CONFERENCE

Registration includes lunch, tea, coffee, and snacks, as well as a wine reception. To cut costs we have not organised an official conference dinner this year. Instead we will book tables at local venues for anyone who wants to come along in the evenings.

Further details of organised evening events will follow after registration. 

ACCESSIBILITY

The conference venue is fully wheelchair-accessible. There is accessible visitor parking on the University campus. The buses and tram across Sheffield have accessibility options. The conference venue will be at the Alfred Denny building with a faith room and a parenting room in buildings nearby. If you have any other need, please do indicate this on your registration form.

If you have any questions, please contact local organiser, Thomas Guillerme at guillert@tcd.ie.

TWITTER

We'll be using the Twitter handle #MacroFest2022. Join in!

REFUND POLICY

We can offer refunds up to two weeks from the event (as this is when we order food). However, we are unable to refund the Eventbrite fees as these go directly to Eventbrite. If you need to cancel less than two weeks before the meeting please contact us and we will see what we can do.

ISSUES REGARDING UNIVERSITIES NOT FUNDING PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT SPEAKING

We are a small meeting with a small organisational team, so unlike larger meetings we can't logistically cope with abstract registration followed by registration for the conference after talks are accepted. We are aware, however, that some universities will not pay for conference attendance unless a talk is confirmed, leaving people in a precarious financial position. If this is an issue for you please let us know and we will see what we can do. Note that everyone is able to upload an online talk, even if you don't get a live talk slot, so everyone will be speaking.

CLARIFICATION ON TALK SLOTS

The organisers of each hub will put together a program that includes live and pre-recorded talks, so we all get to experience macro-research from around the world. This has two implications if you attend a hub in person:

1. Even if you are given a live talk slot, you still will be expected to upload an online talk. This is so attendees at other hubs and online only attendees can see your talk. We recognise this represents extra work, but it will massively increase the number of people who get to see your talk.

2. You are not guaranteed to be given a live talk slot. But you will definitely be able to upload a talk, or video poster or whatever you prefer.

REGISTRATION DEADLINES

Normal registration ends at 23:59 (BST) on Monday, 6th June 2022. 

If you are experiencing hardship as a result of the pandemic, or are from a low/lower middle income country and are unable to afford the full ticket price please get in touch at SIGs@britishecologicalsociety.org

If you are interested in becoming a BES member to purchase the BES member rate ticket, you can find out more information and join here. Membership starts from £23, or you can get 12 months free membership if you are an undergraduate, masters, or first year PhD student

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