RAW 2016

Presenters
Presenters, please have all your visual aids prepared well in advance of your session and report to the moderator during the break before your presentation. Speakers can drop off presentations at the RAW registration desk between 9:30am and 5:30pm on Sunday March 20, and at the A/V table on Monday March 21st. A representative from Animal Professional will be on hand to answer all questions during all breaks and lunches. If you require additional technical assistance, please email support@animalprofessional.com

Posters
Posters will be available to view in outside the meeting room throughout the conference. There will be a poster session on Thursday afternoon to meet with the poster presenters.

A Message from Animal Professional
AnimalProfessional.com is very pleased to be participating in Mardi RAW 2016. Our mission is: “To use today’s technology to share information globally for the benefit of the animal world”

As part of our mission we record animal conferences and symposia so that the information presented can live on after the meeting is over and be available for other animal professionals. Learn how to access all our great content by visiting Animalprofessional.com

Before you leave the conference, you will receive an email with your username and password to Animalprofessional.com. As part of our partnership, all registered attendees of Mardi RAW will have access to the full website for two months and the conference videos for one year, as part of your registration fee. This process will allow you to return to your institution and share valuable information exchanged at Mardi RAW.

Registration Desk / Info Desk
Registration will take place at the Astor Crowne Plaza at the following locations and times
Sunday March 20th - Hotel Lobby 1st Floor 9:30am-5:30pm
Monday March 21st – Astor Ball Room Foyer, 2nd floor 7:30am-5pm
Tuesday March 22nd – Astor Ball Room Foyer, 2nd floor 7:30am-5pm
Wednesday March 23rd – Friday March 25th – during breaks

Breakfast and Lunch
Coffee and light snacks will be provided in the morning and during breaks.
Lunch is on your own except for if you pre-registered for Wednesday’s Professional Development lunch and will be provided at Friday’s Crawfish Boil.

Dinner Locations and Transportation
Dinner will be provided on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at all of our evening events.

Tuesday March 22 – Crescent City Brewhouse – located .5 mile from the Astor on Decatur Street
Wednesday March 23 – Audubon Aquarium of the Americas – please meet in the Astor lobby at 6:30pm for special transportation to the Aquarium
Thursday March 24 – Beer and BBQ at the NOLA Brewery – busses will begin shuttle service at the Astor at 6:15pm and run continuously until 9:45pm

Weather and ‘What to Wear’
The weather in the Crescent City can be fickle this time of year. The mornings can be cooler (50 degrees) and the afternoons can get into the mid-70s or 80s. We have asked for no rain that week, but it is always safe to bring a raincoat or umbrella. The hotel is centrally located and within walking distance to a variety of great things to see and do, we recommend comfortable walking shoes – also you don’t want to be caught on Bourbon St. in flip flops!
Name Badges
Please wear your name badge at all times. Name badges will be required to enter the meeting room, all of the evening event venues, and to board the busses on Thursday night to get to the NOLA brewery.
Entrance to Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, Audubon Zoo and Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium
During the week you will have complementary entrance to all of Audubon’s facilities with your RAW name badge – The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, The Audubon Zoo and The Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium.
Audubon Aquarium of the Americas Gift Shop
The Aquarium gift shop will be open during Wednesday night’s event and will extend a discount to attendees.

We have officially reached 400 attendees for Mardi RAW!

If you would like to be added to the waiting list, please contact Dee Murphy at Dmurphy@auduboninstitute.org

August 10, 2015

We encourage you to share your knowledge with colleagues by presenting your work to the RAW audience. With few opportunities for formal training in our industry, information sharing within the confines of gatherings like RAW is crucial to professional development, the growth of our industry, and the consistent improvement of captive aquatic animal care. With professionals of varying experience levels in attendance, presentations are solicited to cover an array of topics. RAW General Sessions will be held on March 22-25, 2016 at the Astor Crowne Plaza in the historic French Quarter. These sessions will give speakers the opportunity to share new innovations or rehash old exploits with new and exciting updates. We would love to hear your ideas for both presentations and posters. Please download the abstract submission form on the RAW website and email your submissions as soon as possible to mardiraw.abstracts@gmail.com so we can begin to assemble the program for the week.

Dear Industry Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that the 2016 Regional Aquatics Workshop (RAW) will be held at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, Louisiana. On behalf of the Audubon Nature Institute and the greater RAW community, we are delighted to invite you all to join us for the thirtieth anniversary of this ever-growing workshop for aquarium professionals.

For those not familiar with the workshop, RAW offers a unique opportunity to network with public aquarium professionals from around the world in a relaxed environment as we gather to discuss and present important industry topics and initiatives. RAW annually assembles the largest group of aquatic curators, aquarists, LSS operators and directors from large and small public aquariums and zoos from North America, Europe, Australia and occasionally Asia and Africa. RAW 2015, held in Monterey Bay, California, had 350 aquatic animal husbandry professionals in attendance. RAW 2016 promises more of the same, creating an unparalleled opportunity to make valuable connections with industry professionals.

RAW 2016 will begin with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Taxon Advisory Group meetings on Monday, March 21st, and will be followed by four and a half packed days of engaging presentations.. In addition, several exciting events have been planned. These events include an evening at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, the Aquarist Olympics, and two additional evening events to be revealed at a later date.

Mardi RAW will be held March 21-25, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Celebrate the 30th anniversary of RAW with the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas!

This year we will be hosting the event at the Astor Crowne Plaza in the French Quarter. The link to book hotel rooms is now live, and can be accessed here: https://aws.passkey.com/event/13871941/owner/10756/home

Congratulations to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for an excellent conference! RAW was superb from top to bottom, and was exemplified in the high caliber presentations throughout the week. On behalf of the RAW Program Committee, I applaud all of the presenters and their supporting institutions and am pleased to announce the Best of RAW 2015!

Our judges included members of the RAW Program Committee and select members from the audience. Thank you to:

Brian Dorn

Beth Firchau

Rick Klobuchar

Allan Marshall

Pete Mohan

Brian Nelson

Megan Olhasso

Hugh Purgley

Julianne Steers

Greg Whittaker

Congratulations to the following speakers and their presentations that have been selected as Best of RAW 2015, in order of appearance:

“Mini Aquariums Coast to Coast: Catch-and-Release Public Aquarium Model”- Knight and Banwait

“Thinking Outside the Box Truck- Long Distance Transports for Elasmobranchs: Department ofTransportation Compliance and LSS Logistics”- Bailey et al

“Project Coral- Captive Broadcast Coral Reproductive Research at the Horniman Museum & Gardens"- Davis

“Mating, Birth, Larval Development and Settlement of Bargibant's Pygmy Seahorse, Hippocampus bargibanti (Whitley, 1970), in Aquaria”- Wandell and Ross

“Sketch It Up: An In-House Approach to Life Support System Design and Development”- Buster et al

“A Submersible Hyperbaric Chamber for Decompression of "Twilight Zone" Fishes”- Wandell

“Advancements in the Management of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome in Aquaria”- Bishop

"A Cuttlefish of a Different Color: Investigating the Body Patterning in Metasepia pfefferi "- Thomas and MacDonald

Thank you for your contribution to our community, and I’ll say it again- Congratulations!

Thank you again to everyone who helped with and/or attended the 2015 RAW conference. See you in New Orleans!

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Last updated: March 7, 2016