The Marine Research Centre is excited to announce the first Maldives Marine Science Symposium, organized in collaboration with IUCN, Mangroves for the Future (UNDP), the Maldives National University and Banyan Tree Maldives. This one-day symposium will be held on the 27th of October 2016 at Maldives National University in Malé.

The broad objective of this symposium is to share knowledge and experiences which will contribute towards the conservation and sustainable utilization of our valuable marine environment and resources. We encourage presentations on a broad range of marine science topics, including marine biodiversity, climate change, oceanography and conservation ecology as well as resource utilization and socio-economics.

This symposium aims to bring together scientists from different areas of the field to share their knowledge and experiences from the various research projects that are being carried out in the Maldives. We invite all marine scientists active in the Maldives, including NGOs and independent researchers, to participate. This will be an excellent opportunity to share and discuss your work with your peers, and to forge new research partnerships.

Participants can present their work through either oral or poster presentations. In either case an abstract should be submitted in advance (see below). Submitted abstracts will be peer-reviewed by an Abstracts Review Committee.

Symposium participation is free, but prior registration is required. There will be some limited funding to assist with local travel and accommodation costs. Participants do not have to make a presentation, but priority for funding will be to those who do. Procedures for registration and funding application will be posted here shortly.

Venue:

Maldives National University, Malé

Important Dates:

31 July 2016: Deadline for submission of abstracts and travel award application 
31 Aug 2016: Abstract acceptance
30 Sept 2016: Registration deadline
27 Oct 2016: Maldives Marine Science Symposium

Further Information:

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us at: info@mrc.gov.mv or write to Ms. Mariyam Nazeefa at mnazeefa@mrc.gov.mv

Abstract submissions:

• Body of the abstract (Numbers 6-10 of the format below) should be no more than 500 words and must be written in English.

• Accepted abstracts will be published in the next issue of the Maldives Marine Research Bulletin.

• Email your abstracts to info@mrc.gov.mv, with the subject line: “Abstract for the Maldives Marine Science Symposium”, on or before 30 June 2016.

• Abstract should have the following format

           1. Title of the Abstract 
           2. Authors (s)/ Presenter(s) 
           3. Email address of the presenter(s) 
           4. Affiliation 
           5. Oral or poster presentation 
           6. Introduction and background of the research/project 
           7. Objective of the research/ project 
           8. Method(s) and materials used 
           9. Summary of observations and results of the study 
           10. Conclusion(s)

Scientific Committee

Dr. M. Shiham Adam       - Director General, Marine Research Center
Dr. Ameer Abdulla           - Head of Party / Chief Technical Officer, Project REGENERATE
Dr. Charles Anderson     - Marine Biologist 
Dr. Mizna Mohamed       - Senior Lecturer, Research Center, Maldives National University
Dr. Steve Newman          - Group Director of Conservation, Banyan Tree Maldives

Organizing Committee

Dr. M. Shiham Adam       - Director General, Marine Research Center
Ms. Mariyam Nazeefa     - Senior Research Officer, Marine Research Center
Dr. Mizna Mohamed        - Senior Lecturer, Research Center, Maldives National University
Ms. Njoki Njoroge            - Office Manager, IUCN

Status: Completed

You can download abstracts of the presentations presented at the symposium from here.