2007 Georgia Basin Puget Sound Research Conference

Vancouver, British Columbia
March 26–29, 2007

SPECIAL EVENTS

Poster Hall, Bayshore Grand Ballroom

The 2007 Research Conference will highlight the poster presentations on all four days of the conference. The Poster Gala will take place on Monday, 4:30 to 6:30pm. In addition to the Poster Gala, posters will be available for viewing throughout the conference including after lunch and during morning and afternoon breaks.

Islands in the Salish Sea Community Mapping Project

The Georgia Basin Puget Sound Conference is proud to present an exhibit of the Islands in the Salish Sea Community Mapping Project in the foyer of the Conference Centre. Over 3,000 islanders and artists worked together for a five year period to develop this extraordinary collection of maps to portray these popular islands by linking art, science, and local knowledge. The result is a powerful array of mixed media art forms reflecting not only the islands’ outstanding beauty, but also human elements of culture and diversity in a rapidly developing and fragile region in the Georgia Basin Puget Sound. The Islands in the Salish Sea: A Community Atlas has been voted one of 5 best books in British Columbia (2006 Booksellers Choice Award; Roderick Haig Brown Award) and won 3rd place from the BC Writer’s Federation (2006).

Field Trip: Green Roof Tour

Tuesday, March 27, 4:30pm
Meet at Registration Desk; Walk to Fairmont Waterfront Hotel
Please meet at the registration desk (limited to 25 participants). The group will walk to the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel (2 km) where chefs Shannon Wrightson and Tom Hewertson will join the tour to describe the plants and their uses in the hotel’s restaurant. Donald Wingell of the Waterfront’s Green Committee will lead the tour and describe the hotel’s other green initiatives.

Environmental Film Festival

download Film Festival Program

Tuesday, March 27, 7:00–10:00pm
We are pleased to host the first-ever Georgia Basin Puget Sound environmental film festival on Tuesday, March 27th from 7:00-10:00 in the Stanley Park Salon. The festival will feature three Canadian and three American films selected from over thirty submissions. The featured films cover a range of issues related to the Georgia Basin

Puget Sound marine waters and include: invasive tunicates, ancient “sea gardens” in coastal BC, species response to low dissolved oxygen in Hood Canal, and much more. Please join us—popcorn and drinks will be available!

First Nations / Tribal Dinner: Building Our Partnerships to Protect the Salish Sea Ecoregion

Wednesday, March 28, 5:30–9:00pm
Sponsored by the Squamish First Nation, the Coast Salish First Nations and Western Washington Tribes will be hosting a Coast Salish Traditional dinner for Georgia Basin Puget Sound Research Conference delegates. The evening’s activities will include a presentation on the shared environmental issues of importance to the Coast Salish, the aboriginal people of the Salish Sea ecoregion. The dinner will be an opportunity to share information and traditional ecological knowledge with scientists and decision makers to assist them in making more protective decisions concerning the future of this rich yet fragile region that we share. We will also be hosting cultural activities for our friends from the conference. Transportation by motor-coach will leave the Westin Bayshore at 5:30 pm, Wednesday March 28, and return to the Westin at 9 pm. Transportation to and from this event, and the dinner itself, is free for conference delegates, but you must register in advance at the Conference Registration Desk (seating is limited).

Closing Plenary Session and Student Awards

Thursday, March 29, 2:30–4:30pm
The closing plenary session is scheduled for 2:30-4:30pm on Thursday, March 29. This session will begin by briefly recognizing those students who presented exceptional technical papers and posters. Students will be evaluated during the course of the conference. The closing plenary will feature rapporteurs’ summaries that will seek to provide an overview of the conference and attempt to set the proceedings in a wider context relevant to the Georgia Basin Puget Sound bioregion. The session will conclude with a traditional First Nations closing.