Jack Jones lecture

Robert Rossel

Robert’s talk will focus on the return of salmon to the River Lagan in Northern Ireland, where his work was instrumental in the successful reintroduction of a species that had been extinct for nearly two centuries.

Robert recently (2023) retired from the role of Principal Scientific Officer leading the freshwater fish research section in the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Northern Ireland. A lifelong interest in all things fish resulted in a BSc and PhD in marine biology from University of Liverpool, followed by 35 years in a government fisheries advisory science role in Northern Ireland,

Over that time he led and participated in several significant research projects in aquatic ecosystems and fisheries management, including work on the Lagan Salmon restoration, the fish stocks of Loughs Erne and Neagh, Impacts of Zebra mussels, commercial eel fisheries, and tracking of salmonids. Dr. Rosell's work at AFBI has been instrumental in advancing the understanding of freshwater ecosystems and informing conservation and management practices in Northern Ireland.

Keynote

Rachel Cavanagh

Rachel’s talk will focus on identifying knowledge gaps, and improving communication with policymakers, particularly on climate change and the translation of science into policy, within the work that she carries out with the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

Rachel is an Ecosystem Scientist at the British Antarctic Survey. She trained as an ecologist at the University of Liverpool, and has over twenty years’ experience in scientific research, international programme management, and the provision of technical advice for policy. Rachel’s cross-disciplinary research focuses on linking ecology, fisheries and climate science, to address the challenges in understanding changing ecosystems. She has a particular interest in improving how science informs policy, and most recently her work has been focused on the integration of climate change considerations into marine conservation and management. Prior to working at BAS, she was the Executive Officer of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Species Survival Commission’s Shark Specialist Group, and before that she worked in shark conservation and management in Southeast Asia.

Keynote

Nick Dulvy

Nick’s talk will focus on shark conservation and the impacts of fisheries and climate change.

Nick is Canada Research Chair in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Simon Fraser University in Canada, and was the Co-Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group from 2009–2020. Nick received his BSc from University of Birmingham, and his PhD from the University of East Anglia. He then spent several years working for CEFAS. Nick’s long term research goal is to understand which marine species will survive the Anthropocene and how to save the ones that might not. His cross-disciplinary research combines population dynamics, from organismal metabolic processes to global patterns, and then tests macroecological and macroevolutionary hypotheses using sharks as interesting and charismatic case studies.

His research group then apply these techniques to understand overfishing and extinction risk and explore spatial priorities for conservation and fisheries management improvements.

Posters

A poster consists of easily read text and graphics describing your work.

Preferred format Portrait A0 size paper (841 mm wide x 1189 mm high). If you prefer landscape or a smaller portrait sized poster, note that that height cannot be greater than 190 cm and width cannot be greater than 95 cm. Posters should ideally be put up on Monday afternoon, but you can also put them up on Tuesday morning.

Oral presentations

Oral presentations will have ~15 min slots (depending on number of abstracts accepted). Questions will be right after your talk or as part of a Q&A panel with other speakers in your session afterwards.

Preferred format: Power Point or PDF widescreen (16:9).

You will be asked to upload your presentation a few days before the meeting. More information on this will be provided soon. 

Registration/Accommodation

For FSBI/IFM 2025 Registration follow this link.

There is an all inclusive package – including registration, accommodation and Gala Dinner.

If not all are required, then all of the above can be booked separately.

Delegate early bird registration rates are available for student/standard, member/non-member until 6^th June 2025:

4 day registration includes:

• Coffee breaks and lunches on all 4 days
• Access to workshops on 7^th July
• Pub Quiz and Pizza on 7^th July
• Poster session and BBQ on 8^th July

Single day registration includes:

• Coffee breaks and lunch
• Evening activity (Tuesday only)

Conference Dinner:

The 3 course Conference Dinner will be held at the Belfast Harbour Commissioners Office on 10^th July, numbers are limited due to venue size.

Accommodation:

En suite accommodation is available to be booked at University Halls of Residence (close to the meeting location). This can be booked for £250 for 4 nights ( Monday- Thursday). Additional nights (Sunday and Friday can be booked @ £65 per night).

If the ‘all inclusive’ package is selected, accommodation is included (Monday- Friday).

Please note that this does not include breakfast – but kitchen facilities are available, and there are a huge range of cafes between the accommodation and the meeting venue.

Excursions:

There is an optional excursion available on the afternoon of Wednesday 9^th July. This will be to the AFBI Salmon Hatchery at Bushmills (approx. 1 ¼ hrs drive). You can express your interest in this on the registration form and we will email with further details, however numbers are limited for this trip.

Childcare:

We are exploring availability of childcare at QUB creche. This would be an additional expense. If you would like to request further information on this, please indicate your interest on the form.