On behalf of the organizing committee I am happy to invite you to the Virtual 2021 Meeting of the American Arachnological Society. General information, a schedule overview, and all you need for registration (by June 14) and abstract submission (by May 17) is available at this link. We fully encourage broad participation in this event. Registration cost is $20 for everyone (including non-AAS members) and covers access to all events. We have donor support for anyone for whom this fee is prohibitive. Please share this invitation broadly.
Conference events will take place between Thursday, June 24 - Thursday, July 1. A Keynote address by Maydianne Andrade and the announcement of the recipient of the first Norman Platnick Award will open the meeting on the evening of the 24th. Events will include plenary talks by Mercedes Burns, Lauren Esposito, and Ivan Magalhães; oral and poster presentations; a panel discussion and workshop on actions we can take to dismantle racism and promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in arachnology; a public talk about arachnids by Jillian Cowles; a virtual bioblitz and workshops on collecting arachnids, photography, and online identification communities; two movie nights; happy hours; and a festive "banquet" like event at the end.
This year we welcome presentations from researchers at all career stages. In addition to English, talks may be in Spanish or Portuguese, and we will support pre-recorded talks with presenters present for Q&A following their talk.
We look forward to seeing all of you at this event.
Greta Binford, AAS President, and the Organizing Committee - Catherine Scott, Sebastian Echeverri, Sarah Stellwagen, Rich Bradley, Brian Patrick & Paula Cushing
