Here is the final schedule of presentations:

Monday, April 9th TAG Meetings   8:25-8:30 Welcome 8:30-9:30 Coral CAP 9:30-11:00 AITAG 11:00-11:20 AQIG 11:20-1:00 Lunch 1:00-3:00 FFTAG 3:00-5:00 MFTAG 5:00-TBD Sandtiger Stakeholders 8:00 – 12:00 Hospitality Suite located in Currents Room sponsored by Dynasty Marine, Cairns Marine and Goose Island Tuesday, April 10th 8:30-8:55 George Parsons: Welcome & Introduction Training   8:55-9:15 Animal Professionals 9:15-9:35 Lara Zamarripa: Target and Net Training with an Electric Eel 9:35-9:55 Kurt Hettiger & Lisa Takaki: Training of an Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) and the Advantages of Training with other “Non-Traditional” Species. 9:55-10:20 Break Water Quality & Filtration 10:20-10:25 Aquatic Ecosystems 10:25-10:45 Andy Aiken: Converting Oxygen-fed Ozone Systems to Air-fed Ozone Systems 10:45-11:05 Dr. Jay Gandhi: Analysis of Nutrients in Fresh and High Salinity Water by Ion Chromatography 11:05-11:25 Andy Aiken: Low Maintenance Denitrification 11:30-1:00 Lunch Propagation   1:00-1:05 Cairns Marine Aquarium Fish 1:05-1:25 Paula Branshaw Carlson: Breeding Behavior and Captive Propagation of the Ribbon Seadragon, Haliichthys taeniophorus 1:25-1:45 Janet Monday: Breeding Coldwater Fish at the Aquarium of the Pacific:  Comparing Rearing Strategies for the Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker vs. the Sailfin Sculpin 1:45-2:05 Bob Snowden: Experiences in Brooding the Sun Polyp coral, Tubastraea sp. 2:05-2:25 Ramon Villaverde & Paul Rinehart: Rising Tide Conservation Egg Collection, Packing and Shipping Methods 2:25-2:45 Andrew L. Rhyne: What's that Fish? Developing an Photographic Key Based on Barcodes for Species Spawning at Public Aquariums 2:45-3:10 Break Freshwater   3:10-3:15 Illumination Technologies 3:15-3:35 Lee Jackson: Aquatic field surveys in Paraguay 3:35-3:55 Scott Dowd: Project Piaba: 20 Years of Studying the Aquarium Fish Trade; Now Time for Aquariums to Take Action 3:55-4:15 Paul V. Loiselle: Ny Trondro Malagasy - The Fishes of Madagascar 4:15-4:35 Tim McCaskie & Alex Saunders: Mad Fishes 4:35-4:55 Patrycja Lawryniuk: The King of Darters (Percina rex) 4:55-5:15 Barrett L. Christie: Imperiled Desert Fishes of the American West and Northern Mexico Evening Event   5:45 Buses leave for Shedd Aquarium   6:00 – 11:00 Shedd Aquarium Open House Wednesday, April 11th 8:30 Morning Update Aquarium  & Population Management    8:35-8:55 Becca Gangler: Cutting Shrimp and Cost 8:55-9:15 Rogério Dias: Monitoring Energy and Water Consumption 9:15-9:35 Cara Groome Bryan: Intro to the AZA Population Management Center 9:35-9:55 Cara Groome Bryan: Population Management of Group-living Species 9:55-10:20 Break Crustacean Health   10:20-10:25 Dynasty Marine 10:25-10:45 Michael Tlusty: Host Susceptibility as a Primary Driver of Shell Disease 10:45-11:05 Ruth H. Carmichael: Three Decades of Horseshoe Crab Rearing: A Review of Conditions for CaptiveGrowth and Survival 11:05-11:25 Allan Marshall: Collaborative Marine Ornamental Fish Propagation Efforts 11:30-1:00 Lunch Elasmobranchs   1:00-1:05 New Era 1:05-1:25 Tess Capen: The Effects of Temperature on Urobatis jamaicensis (Urotrygonidae) Reproduction 1:25-1:45 Allison L. Corwin: A Year in the Life of Spotted Eagle Ray Pups (Aetobatus narinari) 1:45-2:05 Eric Carlson: White-Spotted Bamboo Sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum):  Clasper Removal and Hematology Findings 2:05-2:25 Hugo Batista: Husbandry and Breeding of the Blue Spotted Stingray (Taeniura lymma) at Oceanário de Lisboa 2:25-2:45 Hugo Batista: Collection, Husbandry and Medical Management of a Blue Shark, Prionace glauca, in Portugal 2:45-3:10 Break Collection, Transport & Acclimation     3:10-3:15 Piscine Energetics 3:15-3:35 Laura R Simmons: They're Here!  Now What?  The Art and Science of Receiving a Long-haul Animal Shipment 3:35-3:55 João Correia: The Mother of all Long-term Transports: Be Afraid, Be VERY Afraid 3:55-4:15 Jennie Janssen: Closed-system Oxygen Consumption and Supplementation of Pacific Sea Nettles (Chrysaora pacifica) 4:15-4:35 Lyle Victor Squire: Who Uses Cyanide Anymore? 4:35-4:55 Forrest A. Young: Quarantine Strategies Adapted to Fishes Caught Directly Out of Stressed Conditions in the Wild Evening Event   Boats Cruises Leave at 6:00 & 7:00 Wendella Chicago River Boat Cruise Sponsored by Living Color and New Era 8:00 – 12:00   Hospitality Suite Currents Room: Sponsored by New Era and Goose Island Thursday, April 12th 8:30-8:35 Morning Update Conservation   8:35-8:55 Gregory Jeff Barord: Conservation in the Classroom 8:55-9:15 Julianne E. Steers: Bobbing Brushes: Collecting Larvae Out in the Pacific 9:15-9:35 Ken Nedimyer: Restoring Coral Reefs through AZA Partnerships 9:35-9:55 Bob Snowden: Florida Coral Rescue from the Navy's Truman Mole Pier Key West, FL., November 2011 9:55-10:20 Break 10:20-10:25 Reed Mariculture 10:25-11:25 RAW Business Meeting 11:30-1:00 Lunch Exhibits & Animal Health Part 1   1:00-1:05 Living Color 1:05-1:25 Ann Money: Our Glowing Seas, The Mystery of Underwater Fluorescence 1:25-1:45 Pam Montbach: Animal Attraction: What's Love got to do with it? 1:45-2:05 Wendy Lee: Quarantine Exhibit: How to Medicate Fish (but not inverts) When They Have Nowhere Else to Go 2:05-2:25 Eric Curtis: Aulani: Review of our Marine Teleost Quarantine Process 2:25-2:50 Break Animal Health Continued    2:50-2:55 Secore information, Bob Snowden 2:55-3:15 Hugh Purgley: Vitamin D-3 in Captive Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) 3:15-3:35 Carly Byrns: Kicking it "Old-school"- The Use of Honey in Abscess Treatment for Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, Lepidochelys kempii 3:35-3:55 Joe Welsh: Hyperbaric Chambers for Rockfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium 3:55-4:15 Teryl Nolan: So, Your Dragon Won't Eat…Preventative and Supportive Care for Common Health Issues in Seadragons 8:00 – 12:00 Hospitality Suite Currents Room: Sponsored by Living Color and Goose Island Friday, April 13th Quarantine Workshop   9:00 Welcome and Introduction   Guest keynote speaker Roger Klocek   William Hana: Developing Quarantine Protocols for Your Facility   Bernadette Maciol : Necropsy Techniques in Fish   Open Discussions led by Shedd Aquarium's Quarantine Staff: Tiffany Adams, Michael Masellis and Eve Poynter. Topics include: Protocols, Acclimation, Biosecurity, Green Practices, Use of Copper/Chloroquine, Problems with Specific Groups of Animals, Sensitivities 11:30 Closing Remarks 1:20 Buses leave for Whirlyball 2:00-5:00 Whirlyball 5:15 Buses leave for Swissotel

Call for Presentations

The staff of the John G Shedd Aquarium would like to invite you to be an active participant in the 26th Regional Aquatics Workshop (RAW).  We encourage you to share your knowledge with colleagues by presenting your field of expertise to the group.  Without many opportunities for formal training in our industry, information sharing within the confines of gatherings like RAW are crucial to professional development and the positive growth of the industry as a whole. With professionals of varying experience levels in attendance, presentations are solicited to cover an array of topics.

Presenters should limit their time to 20 minutes.

Application Deadline is Friday, January 20^th, 2012

Download your Abstract Submission Form here:   

Presentation Abstract Submission

The RAW General Sessions and special Crustacean Health and Quarantine sessions will take place on April 10^th-12^th, followed by a Quarantine Workshop on April 13^th.  These sessions will give speakers the opportunity to share new innovations or rehash old exploits with exciting updates.  General session topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

·         Crustacean Health: Issues and Solutions

·         Water Quality/Life Support

·         Propagation

·         Husbandry Techniques/Innovation/Animal Care

·         Conservation/Education/Research

·         Enrichment/Training (especially novel or unique methods or taxa)

·         Nutrition/Feeding Techniques/Live Foods

·         Elasmobranch, Jellies, Non-traditional/unique taxa

·         Novel exhibit ideas or mixed taxa habitats

We also encourage topics related to Quarantine.  These can include:

·         Disease Treatment

·         Quarantine Protocols

·         Drug Sensitivities

·         Acclimation

Application Deadline is Friday, January 20^th, 2012

Interested parties should download, fill out the Presentation/Poster Application form and return it to RAW@sheddaquarium.org with RAW in the subject line.