Due to unexpected interest in e-ICOC the organising committee has made the decision to extend the duration of the virtual conference by an extra day (Saturday 30 July) in order to give every participant the opportunity to present their research in their preferred presentation format and in the best possible circumstances.
From: Giesbrecht, W. (1892). Systematik und Faunistik der pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte.
We are very excited about the opportunity to host the online International Conference on Copepoda from July 25 to 30, 2022. e-ICOC is the first online meeting organised by the World Association of Copepodologists. The time that has lapsed since our last ICOC meeting in California – and for many of us the last time many of our fellow copepodologists could meet up – is coming up to five years. By the time the next ICOC will take place it will be seven years, implying that a generation of copepodologists will have retired by then and at least two cohorts of students will never have had the opportunity to participate in the most appropriate international scientific platform for disseminating their research. Due to the Covid-19 global pandemic having prevented the normal physical conference cycle of 2020, and the recent cancellation of the meeting in South Africa, the Executive Council of WAC endorsed our proposal to host a virtual meeting this year. This event will give priority to early-career researchers who need to present their work as part of their career milestones. The e-ICOC will be held in the London Time Zone (British Summer Time – Greenwich Mean Time + 1), using the Zoom video platform.
e-ICOC is not a replacement for the normal in-person International Conferences on Copepoda. The cycle of these physical meetings is planned to continue from 2024 with Prof. Susumu Ohtsuka taking the lead in organising the next ICOC in Hiroshima, Japan. As during previously organised copepod conferences, e-ICOC will host the WAC Business Meeting during which members of the Executive Council will present the Society’s financial reports, overview of activities for 2017–2022, election of Officers and plans for 2022/2024.
As the conference will be online, registration fees are significantly reduced compared to the physical format, facilitating the attendance of more participants and enabling more inclusion.
The meeting will observe a strict Code of Conduct to ensure that participants will be comfortable sharing their slides and posters. Access the Code of Conduct of e-ICOC .
Visit this page periodically to check for the latest news about the event.
We count on the presence of all!
with kind regards
Rony Huys & Alexandra Savchenko
Co-organisers of e-ICOC
e-ICOC logo credit: Alexandra S. Savchenko
Copepod images credit: Rony Huys, Nancy Mercado Salas, Danny Tang
Web site designer: Stanislav Iliutkin
From: Giesbrecht, W. (1892). Systematik und Faunistik der pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte.
The e-ICOC will be organised under the auspices of the World Association of Copepodologists (WAC), a non-profit international organization whose purpose is to promote research on Copepoda by facilitating communication among interested specialists. WAC website.
“The WAC Executive Council stands in support of all scientists. We are greatly appreciative of the organizers and committee members of the e-ICOC conference for their contribution to WAC. We feel that it is important that the international research community have unconditional support and that everyone feels welcome to participate in all aspects of WAC” (WAC Executive Council, March 2022)
Natural History Museum, London
Biological Faculty, Moscow State University
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, U.S.A.
Fondazione Edmund Mach, Research and Innovation Center, Italy
Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Bremerhaven, Germany
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy
Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – IRET-CNR, Italy
University of L’Aquila, Italy
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, U.S.A.
Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Germany
Orange County Sanitation District, U.S.A.
James Madison University, U.S.A.
Please use e.icoc.2022@gmail.com to contact us
Monday 25 July | Tuesday 26 July | Wednesday 27 July | Thursday 28 July | Friday 29 July | Saturday 30 July | |||
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8.30 - 9.00 | Welcome by WAC President and Co-organisers | |||||||
9.00 - 12.00 | Symposium 1 Marine planktonic copepods: from biodiversity to ecology |
Regular session 3 Freshwater copepods I |
Regular session 6 Marine plankton II |
Regular session 8 Freshwater copepods II |
Regular session 9 Symbiotic copepods |
Symposium 4 Copepoda from surface freshwater habitats |
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Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | |||
Symposium 1 Marine planktonic copepods: from biodiversity to ecology |
Regular session 4 Copepod anatomy |
Regular session 6 Marine plankton II |
Regular session 8 Freshwater copepods II |
Regular session 9 Symbiotic copepods |
Symposium 4 Copepoda from surface freshwater habitats |
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12.00 - 13.00 | Lunch break | Lunch break | Lunch break | Lunch break | Lunch break | Lunch break | ||
13.00 - 18.00 | Regular session 1 Marine Harpacticoida – systematics, evolution and ecology |
Symposium 2 Biodiversity and evolution of symbiotic Copepoda |
Regular session 7 Marine plankton III |
Keynote Lecture |
|
Regular session 10 Genomics, genetics and barcoding |
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Maxilliped Lecture | ||||||||
Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | |||
Regular session 1 Marine Harpacticoida – systematics, evolution and ecology |
Symposium 2 Biodiversity and evolution of symbiotic Copepoda |
Regular session 7 Marine plankton III |
Presentation of 2022 Monoculus Award | Symposium 3 Living underground: diversity, ecology and evolution of groundwater copepods |
Regular session 10 Genomics, genetics and barcoding |
|||
Regular session 2 Marine plankton I |
Regular session 5 Copepod physiology and biochemistry |
WAC Business meeting | Closing ceremony |
Monday 25 July | Tuesday 26 July | Wednesday 27 July | |
---|---|---|---|
8.30 - 9.00 | Welcome by WAC President and Co-organisers | ||
9.00 - 12.00 | Symposium 1 Marine planktonic copepods: from biodiversity to ecology |
Regular session 3 Freshwater copepods I |
Regular session 6 Marine plankton II |
Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | |
Symposium 1 Marine planktonic copepods: from biodiversity to ecology |
Regular session 4 Copepod anatomy |
Regular session 6 Marine plankton II |
|
12.00 - 13.00 | Lunch break | Lunch break | Lunch break |
13.00 - 18.00 | Regular session 1 Marine Harpacticoida – systematics, evolution and ecology |
Symposium 2 Biodiversity and evolution of symbiotic Copepoda |
Regular session 7 Marine plankton III |
Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | |
Regular session 1 Marine Harpacticoida – systematics, evolution and ecology |
Symposium 2 Biodiversity and evolution of symbiotic Copepoda |
Regular session 7 Marine plankton III |
|
Regular session 2 Marine plankton I |
Regular session 5 Copepod physiology and biochemistry |
Thursday 28 July | Friday 29 July | Saturday 30 July | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
9.00 - 12.00 | Regular session 8 Freshwater copepods II |
Regular session 9 Symbiotic copepods |
Symposium 4 Copepoda from surface freshwater habitats |
||
Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | |||
Regular session 8 Freshwater copepods II |
Regular session 9 Symbiotic copepods |
Symposium 4 Copepoda from surface freshwater habitats |
|||
12.00 - 13.00 | Lunch break | Lunch break | Lunch break | ||
13.00 - 18.00 | Keynote Lecture |
|
Regular session 10 Genomics, genetics and barcoding |
||
Maxilliped Lecture | |||||
Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | |||
Presentation of 2022 Monoculus Award | Symposium 3 Living underground: diversity, ecology and evolution of groundwater copepods |
Regular session 10 Genomics, genetics and barcoding |
|||
WAC Business meeting | Closing ceremony |
We are proud to welcome excellent speakers from a broad range of disciplines and backgrounds. Look forward to inspiring talks from a variety of fields and experiences. Sixteen invited presentations, arranged in four symposia, will set the scene for timely questions. Each 40-min talk will allow for 5 min Q&A.
Co-convenors: Iole Di Capua (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples) & Astrid Cornils (Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Bremerhaven)
Speakers:
Co-convenors: Danny Tang (Orange County Sanitation District) & Julianne Kalman Passarelli (Cabrillo Marine Aquarium)
Speakers:
Co-convenors: Diana Galassi (University of L’Aquila) & Tiziana Di Lorenzo (Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – IRET-CNR)
Speakers:
Co-convenors: Nancy Mercado Salas (Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change) & Grace Wyngaard (James Madison University)
Speakers:
Copepods live in a world that is vastly different from ours. For planktonic copepods it
is three-dimensional with very few landmarks, while for their parasitic counterparts it
creates a considerable impediment to finding a host or a mate when the target is 100,000
body-lengths away in any of the three dimensions. In the fluid environment, with very low
excess gravity (gravity minus buoyancy), copepods face specific challenges during the various
activities and processes of their life history, including grooming, disposal of unwanted items,
orientation and positioning during mating, and capture and manipulation of prey. The interplay
between gravity and viscosity sets boundary conditions for evolution, while the lack of obvious
landmarks prioritizes the requirement for a sensory system that keys in on the complexity of the
fluid around the animals.
I will start my thoughts with an observation I made while I was processing copepod samples as a student in the lab of my mentor Uli Einsle. Upon the discovery of a male copepod displaying over ten spermatophores attached to its genital segment, I realized already then that the lives of copepods must have their secrets. I will end by pointing out that, after 50 years of attempting to understand and analyze the copepod’s domain, my questions and observations related to tracking and comparing copepod behaviour have matured but nevertheless plenty remain to contemplate.
All conference talks will be recorded and immediately uploaded on a closed YouTube channel. However, participants will have the option to pre-record the video of their oral presentation. Note that your presence will still be required (1) to play the video, (2) during the short Q&A at the end of your presentation, and (3) for additional questions/interaction at the end of the general session that includes your talk. Test sessions will be provided to presenters a few days before the conference.
Here are a couple of links to help you recording.
For Windows users with a recent version of PowerPoint we recommend creating the recording using PowerPoint. Video Tutorial
For Mac users with Keynote version 10.1 or higher the easiest way is using Keynote. Video Tutorial
Besides the technical aspects described above, please consider the following:
Contrary to previous in-person ICOC’s there will not be a dedicated poster session during the e-ICOC meeting. Instead, posters presented as lightning talks will be an integral part of thematic sessions (e.g. phylogeny, marine plankton, ecology, …) spread over five days. Each thematic session will consist of a number of 20-min oral presentations followed by 4-min lightning talks that match the theme. There will be a 20-min Q&A slot at the end of each thematic session for everyone to engage in discussions. All poster presenters will automatically be assigned to a thematic lightning talk session upon acceptance of the abstract. Posters that do not correspond to a thematic oral session will be grouped in a dedicated miscellaneous one. If you have strong objections against presenting your poster as a lightning talk, it will still be posted on the e-ICOC website. However, we strongly advise all participants to use this opportunity to actively participate in the conference and make a short oral presentation (lightning talk).
All submitted posters will be uploaded to the e-ICOC conference website and will become accessible to registered participants only, from the opening day of the conference until two weeks after the closing date of the event (15th August 2022). This should give participants sufficient time to examine your poster and formulate relevant questions which can be posted in a dedicated comments box at the bottom of each uploaded poster. All registered participants are encouraged to engage in discussions using the comment box. You will be able to personally contact poster presenters during lightning talk sessions. Questions and answers in the comment box will be moderated following the Code of Conduct by conference staff throughout the meeting.
It is crucial that poster presenters are present during their Q&A session to answer questions from the audience.
The Maxilliped Lecture, to be given by the outgoing President of the WAC, has been a
traditional event at each ICOC since 1987. This year, Past-President Eduardo Suárez-Morales
will introduce President Diana Galassi prior to her lecture.
The first Maxilliped Lecture was given by the Founding President Bob Kabata
(who was also responsible for suggesting the name for the presidential address)
during the London ICOC (Kabata, 1988), and this marked the start of a tradition
when the second President, Jan Stock, during the Karuizawa meeting was also asked
to present the lecture (Stock, 1991). In the introduction to his Maxilliped Lecture,
Stock defined the rules as he understood them. The lecture should be ex cathedra
(with the full authority of office), meaning, as he ironically put it, “that someone
old enough not to allow any discussion after his presentation, presents just a couple
of philosophical thoughts”. The lecture should “review a broad field on some aspect of
copepodology, rather than novel discoveries” and it should “follow the trend that it
is helpful to be the President of the WAC”. It has also become a tradition to keep the
topic secret right until the beginning of the lecture. Eleven “Maxilliped Lectures”
have been delivered so far, eight of which were published in peer-reviewed journals.
London | 1987 | Zbigniew (Bob) Kabata |
Karuizawa | 1990 | Jan H. Stock |
Baltimore | 1993 | Arthur G. Humes |
Oldenburg | 1996 | Gustav-Adolf Paffenhöfer |
Curitiba | 1999 | Ju-shey Ho |
Keelung | 2002 | Geoffrey A. Boxshall |
Hammamet | 2005 | Horst Kurt Schminke |
Pattaya | 2008 | Shin-ichi Uye |
Mérida | 2011 | Janet M. Bradford-Grieve |
Seoul | 2014 | Rony Huys |
San Pedro | 2017 | Eduardo Suárez-Morales |
The triennial Monoculus Award is awarded to scientists for their exceptionally devoted service and contributions to the activities of the World Association of Copepodologists. The award was first presented on the occasion of the 10th ICOC in Pattaya, Thailand (2008). Previous recipients of the Monoculus Award include Geoffrey Boxshall and Horst Kurt Schminke (2008), Janet W. Reid and Ju-shey Ho (2011), T. Chad Walter (2014) and Rony Huys (2017).
WAC members in good standing | 50 USD |
Non-WAC members | 85 USD |
Participants who previously paid registration fees for cancelled 14th ICOC in South Africa | FREE |
Students | FREE |
The e-conference will be free for all attendees who had already registered for the 14th ICOC in South Africa and paid their registration fee for that event.
Registration fees will be waived for ALL students (BSc, MSc, PhD). However, students will be asked to provide a letter from their scientific adviser or a document from their university, confirming their current student status.
The difference in registration fee between WAC members and non-WAC members is equivalent to 1-year membership of the World Association of Copepodologists. Once the USD 85 registration fee is paid, non-WAC members will be able to apply for WAC membership by filling out the application form and sending it to the General Secretary, Hans Dam (hans.dam@uconn.edu). We encourage participants to pay for WAC membership until 2024 (3 years), when the next in-person ICOC will happen.
Registration with abstract: | deadline 31 May 2022 |
Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: | 15 June 2022 |
Registration without abstract: | deadline 10 July 2022 |
Poster submission: | deadline 10 July 2022 |
Online voting of WAC officers opens: | 28 July (18.00 GMT + 1) |
Online voting of WAC officers closes: | 29 July (23.59 GMT + 1) |
Announcement of new WAC officers, Zbigniew Kabata Student Award, and additional student awards for best oral presentations and posters: | 30 July |
End of online access to e-talks and e-posters: | 15 August 2022 |
The Zbigniew Kabata Student Award (named after the Founder President of WAC) will be awarded for the best oral presentation given by a student participant. Free communications from all fields of copepodology will be considered. Students presenting poster contributions with associated lightning talk are not eligible recipients for this award. Only participating professionals will be able to vote for the 32 student oral presentations (up to a maximum of six votes) in the programme. For a list of eligible student presenters and voting buttons click here CLICK HERE. The recipient will receive a certificate and a cash prize of 400 USD. The Kabata Award recipient will be announced during the closing ceremony.
In addition, ten smaller awards will be presented for other outstanding research (five for oral communications and five for poster presentations) in the student category. Runners-up (2–6) in the Z. Kabata Student Award competition will automatically be awarded for best student oral presentation. Contrary to previous ICOCs when we had volunteers evaluating the student posters, all registered professionals will be able to vote for up to six posters during e-ICOC. A voting button will be provided at the top of each student poster and also on the dedicated student award voting page – hence you will be able to vote for posters in two different places on the website but only be able to cast a single vote for each of your top 6. Best student oral presentation and poster awardees will be announced at the end of the conference during the closing ceremony. Each awardee will receive a certificate, a cash prize of 150 USD and a copepod-related gift which will be sent through the post.
When casting a vote for a particular oral presentation or poster bear in mind that you will be voting for the first author (who is the student presenter) irrespective of the number of co-authors listed.