Social Events
Our fantastic range of non-scientific networking social events!
Social Events
Sunday 11 December
Welcome Mixer
19:30 – 21:00
Join us in the exhibition area for our 150 years of the phrase ‘Ecology’ birthday party! Wine and cake will be flowing, and the opportunity for you to check out our exhibitors, meet our Special Interest Groups and get to know your fellow delegates!
Monday 12 December
Poster Session
17:15 – 18:45
Join us in the exhibition area to view fellow delegates ecological research with some networking a local beverages!
Special Interest Groups
19:00 – 21:00
Tropical Ecology SIG
Monday 12 December
Meet in the registration area or The Liverpool Pub, James Street at 19:00
The Tropical Ecology Group warmly welcomes you to The Liverpool Pub on James St at 19.00 on Monday 12th December. As well as an opportunity to meet friends old and new, we will be hosting a quiz to give you a flavour of the tropics in the middle of British winter, so bring your thinking sombrero!
Microbial, Parasites and Pathogen and Plants, Soils and Ecosystems SIGs
Monday 12 December
Meet in the registration area or at the Black Lodge Brewery at 19:00
This year the Parasites & Pathogens, Microbial Ecology and Plants, Soils and Ecosystems special interest groups will be getting together for a joint social event. All three SIGs are excited to share an event for the first time, and to discuss new ideas with friends new and old.
We will be meeting at Black Lodge Brewery, just up the road from the exhibition centre on Kitchen Street at 7pm. Recently featured in the Guardian “Alt city guide to Liverpool”, Black Lodge is a unique venue with their own brewery on site. We will start the event with a beer tasting session, including samples of two of their beers, with insight from the brewers into the flavours and the brewing process.
Then join us for a range of excellent food from local producers, and a wide selection of local and international drinks, to fuel discussion between our three SIG’s.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Conservation, Agricultural Ecology & Citizen Science SIGs
Monday 12 December
Meet in room 3A (in the ACC) at 19:00
This year, the Conservation Specialist Group (SIG) is teaming up with the Agricultural Ecology and Citizen Science SIGs to bring you some fantastic opportunities to develop new, creative collaborative activities that facilitate transfer of knowledge and skills between these three groups. Taking place in room 3A from 19:00, the event will focus on facilitating the emergence of proposals for activities that could be jointly run between 2 or more of these SIGs over the coming years; tables that will come up with great ideas will be rewarded with unforgettable beer & wine. At the end of the event, members will be asked to vote for the best ideas, which will then be financed by the SIGs.
Aquatic SIG
Monday 12 December
Meet in the registration area at 19:00, or at The Baltic Fleet
We are very much looking forward to meeting new people and seeing aquatic friends at our Mixer at the BES annual meeting in Liverpool. We will meet for drinks, nibbles, pub quiz and spot prizes! Don’t miss it aquatic ecologists!
You can follow us on Twitter: @BES_AquaEco (#Thursdayjobday), on Facebook: BES-Aquatic Ecology Group and you can join our mailing list by emailing Ronni.
Climate Change SIG
Monday 12 December
Meet in the registration area at 18:50, or at the Pumphouse at 19:00
The Climate Change Ecology group is meeting at The Pump House pub on the Albert Dock, close to the conference centre.We’ll provide a Christmas themed buffet, people will need to buy their own drinks. There will be a short discussion on new developments in climate change science, opportunity to talk about the group’s future activities and plenty of time to chat and socialise. Because of the venue size, numbers are limited to 30 and you will need to get a free tickets. Tickets will be available from 1 December, get in quick by emailing climatechange@bes.brightminded.com or speak to a committee member at the welcome mixer.
Ecological Genetics SIG
Monday 12 December
Meeting in the registration area at 18:45
Most of us like a good drink. But have we ever considered where in nature these wonderful alcoholic beverages come from? Amy Stewart has, in her hilarious book The Drunken Botanist (Timber Press, 2013). But why just read about it when you can actively participate? To this end, as part of the ongoing 60th Birthday celebrations of the Ecological Genetics Group (EGG) will be about the various plants that go into making some of our favourite grog – and we’re not just talking about gin! Everybody is welcome to come along to learn about the botany behind the booze.
Forest Ecology SIG
Monday 12 December
Meet in the registration area at 18:45 or at Roja Pinchos at 19:00
Come get your warm and funky fiesta on with the Forest Ecology Group, who will be convening at Liverpool’s new Spanish Tapas bar with a modern Gin-filled edge – Roja Pinchos – a mere 15 minute walk from the BES conference. Here we will slurp on a range of gin mixers, riojas and indulge in ‘pinchos’ –a yummy variety of warm tapas on a stick. Food and drink provided. Award for the best interpretive dance – of a tree growing from seed to forest top. See you there!
Teaching and Learning SIG
Monday 12 December
Meet in room 11C (In the ACC) at 19:00
This year, the Teaching and Learning SIG is being launched, it aims to support anyone involved in ecological teaching and those involved in providing CPD. Lots of people have already helped with identifying issues and suggesting events and activities for the SIG over the next few years but this is your chance to join us and contribute your thoughts. No matter your career stage we welcome you and your thoughts to our inaugural meeting.
Peatlands SIG
Monday 12 December
Meet in room 13 (In the ACC) at 19:00
A little-known fact is that Liverpool was founded on peatlands and powered by peat fuel. We will explain more about this and some recent developments in the Peatlands Group before heading out to explore the delights of the modern city and get bogged down in its hospitality. There will be chance to discuss peat research and ideas and to share enthusiasm for the black stuff, but the key emphasis of the evening is to meet and socialise with peat friends old and new. Of course, this is not restricted to peatlands people – so do bring a friend! We meet at 7 pm and, following introductions and chat, depart for drinks and food at 7.30 pm. We are going ‘Italian’ to a dockside restaurant called ‘Gustos’ which is located at the gateway to The Albert Dock, overlooking the Tate Gallery, and the waterfront. You are welcome to just turn up on the night, but an idea of numbers would be really helpful – so please email Ian to confirm or enquire.
RSPSoc Annual lecture
Monday 12 December
Auditorium 1C at 19:00 (followed by reception in room 4A) In the ACC
This year’s Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc) Annual Lecture will be delivered by Dr Nathalie Pettorelli on ‘Satellite remote sensing for conservation: opportunities and challenges’. Global environmental change is a growing threat to the Earth’s biological diversity, potentially leading to detrimental impacts on ecosystem services and human well-being, particularly for the world’s most marginalized and impoverished communities. The potential for satellite remote sensing (SRS) to provide key data has been highlighted by many researchers, with SRS offering repeatable, standardised and verifiable information on long-term trends in biodiversity indicators. SRS permits one to address questions on scales inaccessible to ground-based methods alone, facilitating the development of an integrated approach to natural resource management, where pressures to biodiversity, biodiversity state and consequences of management decisions can all be monitored. Dr Pettorelli will provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the prospects of SRS for conservation applications, reviewing established avenues but also highlighting new research and technological developments that have a high potential to make a difference in global change ecology and environmental management. The Lecture will be followed by the RSPSoc Conversazione and drinks reception
Policy Networking Event
Monday 12 December
Meet at 19:00 in the registration area (before heading to the Novotel Liverpool Centre Hotel bar)
Want to get more involved in BES’s policy work?
Join the BES Policy Team and BES policy networks including the Policy Alumni, Scottish Policy Group and Wales Policy Group to discuss some of our upcoming projects and to see where you can get involved.
This is a particularly uncertain time for science and environmental policymaking. We want to ensure evidence and science is communicated to and heard by policymakers. Find out how we can support you to engage with policymakers, how to get involved with projects including developing our Policy Guides or networks such as the Scottish Policy Group, and share your ideas.
Anyone with an interest in policy is welcome to join us – no matter how experienced or inexperienced you might be – come to network, have a drink and discover the avenues for you to engage with our policy work.
Our Science Slam Fringe Event will be happening at the Blue Bar from 20:00 – come and join us!
Tuesday 13 December
Christian Ecologists
Tuesday 13 December
08:00 – 09:00. Meet in room 7 (in the ACC).
This event is an opportunity for Christian ecologists of all denominations to gather and share their enthusiasm for the natural world, and the role their faith plays in shaping this passion. A short reflection on the life of Solomon the Wise – possibly the world’s first ecologist – will be followed by a period of of quiet contemplation, as well as a time to chat and network with others. Coffee provided but please feel free to bring your own breakfast. All are most welcome.
Poster Session
17:00 – 18:30
Come and talk to the authors of the fantastic posters in our exhibition area, with some local gin and nibbles!
Special Interest Groups
18:30 – 19:30
Macroecology and Quantitative SIG
Tuesday 13 December
Meet in the registration area at 18:20 or at the Pump House at 18:30
This year there will be a joint social between the quantitative and macroecology groups. . We will be meeting at 18:20 in the reception and making our way over as a group. If you’re coming later, the Pump House is 5 mins walk from the conference centre; it can’t be missed! It’s the redbrick building with the large Victorian chimney. Activities include: informal networking, alcohol consumption, awkward standing around plus the possibility of laughter (N.B. please provide your own jokes/gags/amusing anecdotes). Oh, by the way, drinks are on us!
Plant Environmental Physiology SIG
Tuesday 13 December
Meet in reception or at The Baltic Fleet Pub at 18:30
PEPG is holding a pub quiz get-together this year on Tuesday 13th December at 18.30 in The Baltic Fleet brew pub (), just up the road from the ACC in Liverpool. We’ve got some exciting prizes to be won and will be providing some drinks and snacks to help get your brains working, we may even get a beer tasting session with the brewers going! It’s going to be a great opportunity to meet the PEPG committee and get to know other plant environmental physiology-minded people in a very informal setting. So, if you fancy your chances (and like winning prizes), come along and join us for the PEPG Quiz of the Year. Keep your eye on our twitter feed (@PEPG_SIG) for details.
Movement Ecology SIG
Tuesday 13 December
Meet in room 4A (in the ACC) at 18:30
Move with a purpose! Come join our social launch event for the new Movement Ecology SIG on Tuesday evening! Move among our free food and drinks, be it those passionate for the cause or those random walkers among you. Everyone is welcome. Mingle with like-minded researchers, hear what we are up to (no formal talks, be assured!), how you can join and contribute (students included – we need you!), and what we will be doing soon, and in the future. Oh – and we will also tell you the pub were we will mosey on to after the event
Animal Ecophysiology SIG
Tuesday 13 December
Meet in Room 4B (in the ACC) at 18:30
The fields of ecology and organismal physiology share at least one common goal – to understand the interaction between organisms and their biotic and abiotic environment. Our friends in the world of Plant Sciences understand this and the BES and Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) have a cross-society SIG where interests are shared and interdisciplinary science is incubated. So if you are an ecologist who dabbles in physiology or think that your work might benefit from some mechanistic, physiological, understanding then come along to discuss whether it is time for a new cross-society Animal Ecophysiology SIG.
LGBT Mixer
Tuesday 13 December
Meet in Room 11C (in the ACC) at 18:30
Following on from last years success, our LGBT mixer is back! Join us for a fun few drinks and an inclusive opportunity to chat & network.
Ilkka Hanski Remembered
Tuesday 13 December
Meet in room 3A (in the ACC) to start presentations at 18:30
Following on from the thematic session earlier in the day – ‘Ilkka Hanski’s legacy to ecology and conservation’ – we are gathering to share memories about Ilkka, including brief presentations from family, friends and colleagues. All welcome.
Gala Dinner
Tuesday 13 December
19:15 – 21:30
Join us in the hall at the ACC for our spectacular gala dinner an awards ceremony. The ceremony will start at 19:30, doors open at 19:15. Tickets are £50 and can be booked with your menu choice when you register.
Dance
21:30 – 00:00
Our evening dance is open to all! We’ll have a cash bar and a great band for you to dance the night away to! No registration needed – just turn up!
Thursday 15 December
Title: Worlds Within Worlds – Microbial Ecology Workshop
Thursday 15 December 15th Dec,
University of Liverpool, 9am-2pm
To celebrate the breadth of microbial evolution and ecology at the BES2016, the University of Liverpool is bringing together researchers from across the University with speakers and hosts from key symposia for a morning of talks and discussions spanning microbe-host interactions, microbial ecology, genomics and more. Free to attend.
Organisers: Zen Lewis, Andy Fenton, Greg Hurst, Mike Begon, Steve Paterson, Rachael Antwis, Xavier Harrison, Ellie Harrison
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