Call for Papers

Call for Papers Extended:

• Abstracts for oral CIG presentations are still being accepted through February 20, 2009.  CIG abstract authors please be sure to choose *CIG as the abstract type.

• Poster presentations will be accepted through March 13, 2009.

Download the 2009 Call for Papers.
Submit an abstract or symposia description.

Special Emphasis for 2009 -- We welcome proposals for presentations that address one or more of the ongoing areas of emphasis outlined below. These ongoing areas of emphasis comprise the core work of SWCS work to foster the science and art of conservation. We have provided a list of illustrative examples of presentations and issue areas for each of the ongoing areas of emphasis. Please choose one of these when submitting an abstract. Special consideration will be given to new insights, techniques, or approaches in addressing each of these general topics.

Each year SWCS identifies topics or a theme for special attention at the Annual Conference. This year the overarching theme of the conference is Delivering Conservation, Today and Tomorrow. This emphasis will apply to ALL of the general topic areas for the conference and we encourage you to tailor your presentation to include the conference theme.

General Topic Areas
 

At the 2009 SWCS Annual Conference, we would like to explore the challenges facing the delivery of conservation planning, policy, and practices today and the issues that must be resolved in order to deliver sustainable soil and water conservation tomorrow and into the future. We hope that your abstracts for oral presentations, posters, and symposia will address the technical, educational, and informational needs of conservationists as we work together to overcome these challenges.

Guidance from the Program Committee:
Ongoing changes in agriculture and agricultural policy and new scientific advances and insight have led to a need to redefine conservation program delivery and implementation. In the face of pressures from a highly dynamic climate, changing markets, evolving environmental conditions, and National Security (e.g., need for energy independence, labor supply in the face of immigration reform) agriculture must produce more than just food, feed, and fiber but also fuel and a broader array of landscape or ecosystem services.

Conservation professionals need to adapt to new resource demands and changes in our client base and needs. This implies that conservation professionals need to do things differently as our client base changes and we re-examine our clients changing needs. Conservation planning needs to be put into a different context. Conservation must deal with larger spatial-temporal scales of soil and water management and conservation, such as landscape and watershed scales, and planning for extreme events.

To achieve these changes will require improved collaborations with different agencies and research institutions to plan and apply on the ground conservation. It may also require returning to our conservation roots to invigorate local coalitions to prioritize and plan conservation needs and programs.

Options For Participation
There are three ways you can propose to be part of the 2009 conference program.

1. Symposia Session: Organize a symposium session that provides more comprehensive and in-depth coverage of a specific topic.

2. Oral Presentation: Present a paper reporting the results of research or lessons learned from professional experience.

3. Poster Presentation: Present a poster reporting the results of research or lessons learned from professional experience.

 

A 250-word abstract of the presentation is all that is required. We do not, at any point in the process, request or accept full proceedings. If you choose, you may submit your work for publication in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, but that review, approval and publishing process is completely separate from any presentation which may be accepted or presented at the SWCS Annual Conference. If you have questions about the Journal, please contact Oksana Gieseman at pubs@swcs.org or review the Journal submission information online at: http://www.jswconline.org/site/misc/ifora.xhtml