Greeting from the wonderful Gulf Coast,

As most of you have heard, we have had a busy summer on the Gulf Coast, but never fear our priorities remain the same - good science and good fun.  We promise lots of both at the 40th Benthic Ecology Meeting. The web site (http://bem.disl.org) is now up and ready to receive you abstracts and registration.

 Some key dates:

Meeting dates March 16-20, 2011

Abstract Deadline, January 21, 2011

Early Registration, February 1, 2011

Hotel Reservation by February 12, 2011.

Please see the website for all the details. We strongly urge you to book your room at the Marriott Riverview Plaza or Battle House. The Battle House is a little more upscale for those with discerning taste and needs (it comes with a spa). Both prices are very reasonable ($109/night for the Plaza and $129/night, for the Battle House).  We have a limited block of rooms but can expand if necessary (although we need to know relatively early), so please reserve rooms as soon as possible.

The easiest airport to fly into is Mobile (MOB), where prices are reasonable if tickets are bought early, but can get pricey without a three-week advance purchase.  The airport is served by USAIR, DELTA, CONTINENTAL, UNITED, and AMERICAN.  A taxi from the airport to the Hotels costs around $30.  Other airports (Gulfport, GPT [1 hr away], Pensacola [1.5 hrs away], New Orleans, MSY [2.5 hrs way]) can be used, but you will need to rent a car.

We have kept the registration fee very reasonable at $175 for non-students and $100 for students.

We promise you a lot for your registration fee. Ken Heck has promised a legendary (truly XL) party on Saturday evening.

When submitting your abstract, please check a theme section, or come up with your own. If you would like to suggest a different theme session, we will be happy to organize a group of papers around that theme.

We hope to see you this March in Mobile,

Sean Powers (spowers@usouthal.edu)
John Valentine (jvalentine@disl.org)
Ken Heck (kheck@disl.org)