Workshops and Special Events
In-Person & Virtual Workshops/Special Events
Virtual Workshops will be held the day prior to the virtual conference (May 28) and during breaks on the main virtual conference days (May 29-30). More Information on Virtual Workshops coming soon.
In-person Workshops are held on Day 1 of the conference (June 20, 2025), or Days 2-5 during the 2 hour lunch window. Special Events, Meetings, and Mixers are held throughout the 5 days. Details below.
Note: Some workshops have additional costs and have limited capacity. Sign up for most during main conference registration.
In-Person Opening & Closing Events
OPENING RECEPTION (JUN 20 - Eve)
Evening welcome reception with appetizers, following the IDEA plenary Award Speaker.
Come join us to kick off the conference!
Free to attendees.
No registration required.
Cash bar.
Come join us to kick off the conference!
Free to attendees.
No registration required.
Cash bar.
Super Social (Closing Banquet - Jun 24 - Eve)
The Super Social will be held at the UGA State Botanical Gardens of Georgia, and includes dinner, socializing spaces, access to different gardens, and a DJ/dancefloor space.
Cash bar.
Additional cost to attend.
Registration required prior to June 1, unless capacity reached before then.
Cash bar.
Additional cost to attend.
Registration required prior to June 1, unless capacity reached before then.
In-Person Workshops
Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution (UDE) Career Development Workshop (Jun 20 - AM)
The SSE Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution (UDE) program sends undergraduate students and recent grads to the in-person portion of the meeting. Selected applicants will present a poster, receive mentoring, and participate in a career-oriented Undergraduate Futures in Evolutionary Biology panel and discussion. Awardees will receive free meeting registration, travel, and lodging, a meal stipend, and a ticket to the Super Social. Applicants demonstrating a need for funds to attend and applicants preparing to attend graduate school in ecology, evolutionary biology, or related fields will be given priority.
Learn more and apply on the SSE website.
Learn more and apply on the SSE website.
Workshop: Navigating Scientific Publishing - Early Career Focus (Jun 20 - AM)
Organizers: Liz Alter, Amanda Taylor
Description: Current changes in scientific publishing are among the most radical in >350 years and the range of publishing options expanding. Publisher-owned journals often dominate and increasing Article Processing Charges and surging Open Access threaten to leave authors and institutions with few affordable options. These changes particularly penalize early career researchers who are more dependent on high profile – typically more expensive – journals for establishing careers. This in-person workshop will discuss strategies for navigating the increasingly complicated publishing landscape, and for being successful. Activities will seek opportunities for input on these and other options from participating early career researchers about their concerns and how they would like scientific publishing to evolve to better support them in the future.
Audience: Early Career Researchers
Description: Current changes in scientific publishing are among the most radical in >350 years and the range of publishing options expanding. Publisher-owned journals often dominate and increasing Article Processing Charges and surging Open Access threaten to leave authors and institutions with few affordable options. These changes particularly penalize early career researchers who are more dependent on high profile – typically more expensive – journals for establishing careers. This in-person workshop will discuss strategies for navigating the increasingly complicated publishing landscape, and for being successful. Activities will seek opportunities for input on these and other options from participating early career researchers about their concerns and how they would like scientific publishing to evolve to better support them in the future.
Audience: Early Career Researchers
SSB Half-Day Workshop (Jun 20 - AM Tentative)
TBD
Workshop for teachers: Scopes Trial (Jun 20 - All Day)
The National Center for Science Education has over 40 years of supporting science teachers and helping to ensure that accurate science is taught effectively in K-12 classrooms. Join NCSE for a special workshop focused on K-12 evolution curriculum and instructional strategies.
In this full day workshop, NCSE will share its Story Short approach to three-dimensional instruction (flexible phenomenon-driven mini-storylines that address one or two academic standards that can be completed in as little as five hours of classroom time). In addition to experiencing lessons from the student perspective, participants will learn about culturally responsive strategies for uncovering and addressing students’ misconceptions and leave with access to all of the free resources needed to implement NCSE’s Story Shorts in the classroom.
Teachers will learn about common evolution misconceptions that students may bring into the classroom and how to use research-supported, no-conflict strategies for identifying and resolving them. Workshop facilitators will then lead teachers through 2 of NCSE’s Evolution Story Shorts. The Origin (and Conservation) of a Species uses a conservation lens to introduce students to the concept of classification and speciation using the endangered Alabama sturgeon as an anchoring phenomenon. The Evolution of Horses dives deep into the evolutionary history of horses in North America to explore the relationship between climate change and the evolution or extinction of species.
Registration for this workshop will be by a separate link from main Evolution 2025 registration. Coming soon.
In this full day workshop, NCSE will share its Story Short approach to three-dimensional instruction (flexible phenomenon-driven mini-storylines that address one or two academic standards that can be completed in as little as five hours of classroom time). In addition to experiencing lessons from the student perspective, participants will learn about culturally responsive strategies for uncovering and addressing students’ misconceptions and leave with access to all of the free resources needed to implement NCSE’s Story Shorts in the classroom.
Teachers will learn about common evolution misconceptions that students may bring into the classroom and how to use research-supported, no-conflict strategies for identifying and resolving them. Workshop facilitators will then lead teachers through 2 of NCSE’s Evolution Story Shorts. The Origin (and Conservation) of a Species uses a conservation lens to introduce students to the concept of classification and speciation using the endangered Alabama sturgeon as an anchoring phenomenon. The Evolution of Horses dives deep into the evolutionary history of horses in North America to explore the relationship between climate change and the evolution or extinction of species.
Registration for this workshop will be by a separate link from main Evolution 2025 registration. Coming soon.
Phylogenomics Software School (Jun 20 - All Day)
Organizers: Tandy Warnow and Siavash Mirarabbaygi
One full day of tutorials and demos covering advances in software related to phylogenomic analysis of large datasets (hundreds to thousands of species and loci). Specific topics will include: inferring multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetic trees for single genes as well as multi-locus datasets, and phylogenetic networks.
One full day of tutorials and demos covering advances in software related to phylogenomic analysis of large datasets (hundreds to thousands of species and loci). Specific topics will include: inferring multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetic trees for single genes as well as multi-locus datasets, and phylogenetic networks.
- Cost: $25 (the actual cost is $100, and covers room rental, catered lunch, and two coffee breaks, but $75 is waived for registered participants)
- Lunch and two coffee breaks are provided
- Max capacity: 100
- Preregister during registration
- Please bring a laptop to participate
- Additional funds are available of up to $500 per registered attendee to partially reimburse costs to attend the workshop, including accommodations, travel, and the $25 registration fee. Please contact Tandy Warnow ([email protected]) with questions about additional funds.
- Target audience: undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and researchers who estimate alignments and phylogenetic trees or phylogenetic networks, and wish to learn about new advances. People who develop methods are also encouraged to attend.
- Opportunities for contributed talks at the workshop are available; submit a request with a brief abstract of the software you wish to present, to Tandy Warnow ([email protected])
SSB Full-Day workshop (Jun 20 - Full-Day tentative)
TBD
Tentative workshop (Jun 20 - FUlL-Day)
TBD
Communicating Science (including Controversial Science) to Diverse Audiences (Jun 20 - PM)
Sure, your research is the most exciting and important science out there! But to have an impact, it must be communicated in ways that enable people to understand and compel them to care. This workshop will combine empirical evidence gained from science communication research with fun, engaging activities to provide you with strategies and approaches to help you communicate your work effectively to diverse audiences. It will also explore specific strategies for communicating “controversial” science in non-controversial, non-confrontational ways.
Organizer: Dr. Jory Weintraub (Director of Science Engagement and Prof. of Communication, North Carolina State University). Jory directs university-wide science outreach activities, teaches science communication at NC State University, and runs science communication workshops for students, postdocs and faculty at institutions around the country. Previously he spent over 10 years leading the public outreach and education efforts at the NSF-funded National Evolutionary Synthesis Center.
If you have questions about this workshop, please feel free to contact Dr. Weintraub at [email protected].
Organizer: Dr. Jory Weintraub (Director of Science Engagement and Prof. of Communication, North Carolina State University). Jory directs university-wide science outreach activities, teaches science communication at NC State University, and runs science communication workshops for students, postdocs and faculty at institutions around the country. Previously he spent over 10 years leading the public outreach and education efforts at the NSF-funded National Evolutionary Synthesis Center.
If you have questions about this workshop, please feel free to contact Dr. Weintraub at [email protected].
NSF Proposal Writing Workshop (Jun 20 - PM)
What makes a good, potentially fundable grant proposal? This is a hands-on workshop, where you will learn how proposals are evaluated and what makes successful ones successful. The event will be in two parts, starting with a presentation and Q&A session on NSF funding opportunities and tips for writing a successful proposal. In the second part of the workshop, NSF program officers will lead discussions in a mock review panel. Participants will be provided with two proposals to review and instructions ahead of the workshop. NSF program officers will also answer questions about what to do and what to avoid, and comment on common problems with grant proposals.
(Pre-registration required. Limited to Postdocs/30 attendees).
(Pre-registration required. Limited to Postdocs/30 attendees).
Diverse Careers Workshop - Leveraging your PhD: Careers in and out of Academia (Jun 20 - PM)
Organizer: Jennifer Spillman
This active and participatory workshop will guide graduate students and postdocs in exploring and planning their careers after graduate school or postdoctoral training. Through presentations and small group activities, you will learn about the many potential career avenues open to those trained in evolutionary biology and ecology. You’ll also learn the basics of building a professional network, how to identify the transferable skills you developed during your training, and have the opportunity to ask questions of biology PhDs who hold non-tenure-track jobs.
Join us after the workshop for an informal networking event!
(Pre-registration required).
This active and participatory workshop will guide graduate students and postdocs in exploring and planning their careers after graduate school or postdoctoral training. Through presentations and small group activities, you will learn about the many potential career avenues open to those trained in evolutionary biology and ecology. You’ll also learn the basics of building a professional network, how to identify the transferable skills you developed during your training, and have the opportunity to ask questions of biology PhDs who hold non-tenure-track jobs.
Join us after the workshop for an informal networking event!
(Pre-registration required).
Storytelling workshop (Jun 20 - PM)
Organizer: Martha Burford Reiskind
Martha has worked with Story Collier for the last several years, telling her own personal story through one of their sponsored events, and participating in two Storytelling workshops and one story coach training. She has hosted several Storytelling events at her university, NC State.
The Storytelling Workshop is an interactive, hands-on experience designed to help participants develop their personal stories in a compelling and structured way. This 2.5-hour session will guide attendees through the core elements of storytelling, providing tools and techniques for crafting a narrative that engages and resonates with an audience.
Target Audience: Conference attendees looking to improve their personal storytelling skills.
Martha has worked with Story Collier for the last several years, telling her own personal story through one of their sponsored events, and participating in two Storytelling workshops and one story coach training. She has hosted several Storytelling events at her university, NC State.
The Storytelling Workshop is an interactive, hands-on experience designed to help participants develop their personal stories in a compelling and structured way. This 2.5-hour session will guide attendees through the core elements of storytelling, providing tools and techniques for crafting a narrative that engages and resonates with an audience.
Target Audience: Conference attendees looking to improve their personal storytelling skills.
Mid-career lunch workshop: Avoiding Bias when writing Promotion Letters (Jun 21 - LunchTime)
The SSE Diversity Committee will host this lunchtime workshop. This session will provide training and resources for mid-career to established-researchers to help potential letter writers recognize and mitigate systemic biases that disproportionately affect women and faculty from underrepresented backgrounds.
The workshop will feature an expert moderator alongside a panel of experienced faculty members from the tri-societies. Attendees will engage in hands-on activities to identify biased language and discuss strategies for more equitable evaluations when writing promotion letters. Participants will also receive curated resources on best practices. This initiative is in direct response to the 2021 Climate Survey, where “Strengthening the Pipeline” was identified as one of four key opportunities for improvement in diversity and inclusion. Therefore, we will also send a follow-up survey to assess the workshop’s impact and explore future initiatives to further Strengthen the Pipeline.
By fostering awareness and providing concrete tools for reducing bias in promotion evaluations, this initiative aims to support mid-career faculty and strengthen the academic pipeline for all.
The workshop will feature an expert moderator alongside a panel of experienced faculty members from the tri-societies. Attendees will engage in hands-on activities to identify biased language and discuss strategies for more equitable evaluations when writing promotion letters. Participants will also receive curated resources on best practices. This initiative is in direct response to the 2021 Climate Survey, where “Strengthening the Pipeline” was identified as one of four key opportunities for improvement in diversity and inclusion. Therefore, we will also send a follow-up survey to assess the workshop’s impact and explore future initiatives to further Strengthen the Pipeline.
By fostering awareness and providing concrete tools for reducing bias in promotion evaluations, this initiative aims to support mid-career faculty and strengthen the academic pipeline for all.
NSF Big-Ideas Listening Session (Jun 22 - Lunchtime)
Discussion with NSF Program Officers
Come to an informal discussion session with NSF Program Officers. We are interested in hearing your ideas about the big questions and leading edges in evolutionary biology. Tell us about where evolutionary biology will and should be going in the next five years. This is your chance to tell us what you think.
Free. No registration required. Lunch not included.
Come to an informal discussion session with NSF Program Officers. We are interested in hearing your ideas about the big questions and leading edges in evolutionary biology. Tell us about where evolutionary biology will and should be going in the next five years. This is your chance to tell us what you think.
Free. No registration required. Lunch not included.
NSF/BIO/DEB information session (Jun 23 - Lunchtime)
The National Science Foundation funds basic research in evolutionary biology and systematics, training of the next generation of evolutionary biologists, and broader impacts extending the reach of evolutionary research to benefit society. However, newer (and even experienced) scientists can find NSF’s numerous programs, detailed guidance, and merit review process to be a difficult landscape to navigate. In this informational session NSF program officers will discuss new and ongoing programs and the merit review process (including Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), followed by an open-ended question and answer session. Participants who wish to meet briefly individually with an NSF Program Officer may be able to do so following the discussion.
Free. No registration required. Lunch not provided.
Free. No registration required. Lunch not provided.
Genomic History Inference Strategies Tournament workshop (Jun 23 - Lunchtime)
GHIST is an annual forum for the community to test approaches for inferring evolutionary history from genomic data. Each year, the GHIST organizers release simulated population genomic data sets and host a competition to infer various aspects of the processes that generated those data. From the competitors’ solutions, the community will learn what approaches perform well or poorly in particular circumstances. In this workshop, participants will be guided through their first submission to the completion. In particular, they will use dadi-cli to analyze data from the simplest demographic history inference task and submit their results.
No prior knowledge is required. Please bring a laptop to participate.
Cost: Free
Max Capacity: 50
Preregister during registration, but the workshop is open to any conference attendee if space is available.
To learn more about GHIST, visit http://ghi.st .
No prior knowledge is required. Please bring a laptop to participate.
Cost: Free
Max Capacity: 50
Preregister during registration, but the workshop is open to any conference attendee if space is available.
To learn more about GHIST, visit http://ghi.st .
In-Person Mixers, Networking & Special Events
International Mixer (JUn 20 - Eve)
The international mixer is an opportunity for members from outside the US to connect, share experiences, and socialize. In this mixer we will have breakout rooms designed for 1) folks that are looking for tips and advice on how to pursue an academic career in the US, 2) folks looking to study evolution internationally (US-based attendees are welcome!), and 3) folks looking to connect with other International evolutionary biologists in and outside the USA. We are looking forward to hearing dozens of different accents!
FLying Solo Coffee Mixer (JUn 21 - AM)
The SSE Graduate Student Advisory Council is organizing a coffee break for people who are attending the Evolution meeting without their lab group or advisor. The event is intended to provide networking for people who are "flying solo" at this year's meeting. You can indicate your interest in participating during main conference registration.
LGBTQIA+ Coffee Mixer (JUn 21 - PM)
Join us for a casual coffee-mixer for LGBTQIA+ evolutionary biologists and their allies! This is an opportunity to meet folks in the field, network across career stages, and discuss issues that the LGBTQIA+ community faces in evolutionary biology (and academia more broadly), as well as advice and success stories. All are welcome!
PUI Mixer (JUn 22 - AM)
An opportunity for evolutionary biologists working at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) to meet up with colleagues, and discuss common experiences, challenges, and opportunities. Grab a beverage - come and meet friends, network, and have fun!
ASN Grad Mixer (JUn 22 - Lunchtime)
Latines in Evolution Mixer (JUn 22 - PM)
Neurodivergent Mixer (June 23 - AM)
Networking mixer for neurodivergent people and their allies to develop a sense of community. Members of the SSE diversity committee will be present and open to receiving feedback regarding the meeting to help improve accessibility at future Evolution conferences. Snacks/tea/coffee will be provided.
Postdoc Networking Lunch (Jun 23 - Lunchtime)
The SSE Graduate Student Advisory Council is organizing small group networking lunches to facilitate interactions among postdocs. Those who indicate interest below will be contacted in late May to fill out a survey about their research interests in order to set up groups. Groups will be responsible for finding their own lunch venues.
Student-Faculty Networking Lunch (Jun 23 - Lunchtime)
The SSE Graduate Student Advisory Council is organizing small group networking lunches to facilitate interactions between students and faculty. You can indicate your interest in participating during main conference registration, and we will send out surveys to match students with faculty in late May. Groups will be responsible for finding their own lunch venues and will be capped at 5 students per faculty member, so student attendance may be limited to a first-come, first-serve basis once the surveys go out.
John Edmonstone Coffee Social for BIPOC scientists and allies (Jun 23 - PM)
This event is named after John Edmonstone, who was born into slavery in British Guiana and eventually taught and influenced a young Charles Darwin. Edmonstone's life highlights that people of color have been present--if invisible--in the development of evolutionary biology from the beginning. This mixer is an opportunity for people of color and their allies across all career stages in evolutionary biology to interact. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet, discuss their work, share experiences, establish mentor-mentee connections, and build on constructive ways to make evolutionary biology a more inclusive community.
Disabilities Mixer (Jun 23 - PM)
Interested in meeting fellow evolutionary biologists with disabilities/chronic illnesses/Deaf folks and interested allies? Want to discuss increasing the inclusion and representation of disabled/chronically ill/Deaf students and staff in our diverse field? This is an informal chance to meet others interested in these topics, share experiences of disability in evolutionary biology, and hopefully increase our inclusion around issues of disability as a community. Anyone at any career stage and level of ability (including allies) are welcome to come join.
UDE Coffee Social (June 24 - AM)
Social for UDE Program participants.
Postdoc Fellowship Lunch (Jun 24 - Lunchtime)
Are you a late-stage graduate student or postdoc thinking about applying for postdoc fellowships (for example, NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, NIH F32, Fulbright Scholarship, Marie Curie Fellowship, etc.) or a postdoc interested in sharing your experience with the application process? The SSE Graduate Student Advisory Committee (GSAC) will be coordinating lunches between interested postdocs and graduate students. Groups will meet for lunch at a restaurant of their choice near the convention center (note that cost will be covered by attendees). Please reach out to Robert Driver ([email protected]) with any questions.
LGBTQIA+ Networking Lunch (Jun 24 - Lunchtime)
We invite LGBTQIA+ identified individuals to join us for a small-group lunch. This is a unique opportunity to network with other LGBTQIA+ individuals, advise across career stages, and bond over shared experiences. Each group will be small (4-5 individuals) and will contain a diversity of folks, including across career stages. Lunch will take place off conference campus, with each group deciding on a venue. Please note that each participant is responsible for covering the costs of their own meal.
Fieldwork Mixer (Jun 24 - PM)
The SSE Graduate Student Advisory Council has organized a fieldwork mixer for people attending Evolution 2025. The event is intended to provide networking for people performing or who plan to perform fieldwork to share experiences, advice, and initiatives. Let's gather together to share our tales from the field and advocate for more equitable, inclusive, and diverse field research experiences.
Editorial Meetings, Council Meetings & Member Forums
council & Committee meetings
Society Councils
Open to council members only.
Joint Council (ASN/SSB/SSE)
Open to Joint council members only.
Open to council members only.
- ASN entrance meeting - June 20, 2025 (1:00 - 5:00 pm)
- ASN exit meeting - June 24, 2025 (12:35 pm - 2:25 pm)
- SSB entrance meeting - June 20, 2025 (1:00 - 5:00 pm)
- SSB exit meeting - June 24, 2025 (12:35 pm - 2:25 pm)
- SSE entrance meeting - June 20, 2025 (1:00 - 5:00 pm)
- SSE exit meeting - June 24, 2025 (12:35 pm - 2:25 pm)
Joint Council (ASN/SSB/SSE)
Open to Joint council members only.
- Entrance meeting - June 20, 2025 (8:30 am - 1:00 pm)
- Exit meeting - June 23, 2025 (12:30 pm - 2:25 pm)
editorial board meetings
Evolution Letters - June 21, 2025 (12:30 - 1:30 pm)
Systematic Biology - June 21, 2025 (12:30 - 1:30 pm)
The American Naturalist - June 22, 2025 (12:30 - 1:30 pm)
Evolution - June 22, 2025 (12:30 - 1:30 pm)
Systematic Biology - June 21, 2025 (12:30 - 1:30 pm)
The American Naturalist - June 22, 2025 (12:30 - 1:30 pm)
Evolution - June 22, 2025 (12:30 - 1:30 pm)
Society Member Meetings/Forums
Open to all members of the respective societies.
Preregistration not required.
Preregistration not required.
- SSE Members Open Forum - June 21, 2025 (1:30 - 2:25 pm)
- ASN Members Open Forum - June 21, 2025 (1:30 - 2:25 pm)
- SSB Members Open Forum - June 21, 2025 (1:30 - 2:25 pm)
External events
If you are hosting an event in Athens that is related to the conference, but not officially connected, you can ask for it to be listed here (e.g. a workshop happening in town before or after the conference). Contact [email protected] with any questions.