1. business and industrial
2. business operations
3. business plans

Call For Papers
2015 AZH Annual Conference
San Francisco Zoo and Gardens
October 11 - October 14, 2015
Program Sessions
“The Wet and Dirty”-Soils and Water
The focus of this session is on soils and water.
This session may include, but is not limited to
topics such as:





Sustainable Water Use
Soil Science
Animals/Soils/Water Interactions
Water Quality and Conservation
Irrigation Practices
“The Unwanted Invaders”
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
The focus of this session is on integrated pest
management. This technical session may
include, but is not limited to topics such as:









Sustainable IPM practices
How to establish an IPM program
Control strategies
Coordinating IPM within zoos
Monitoring and Record Keeping
Prevention/Exclusion strategies
“New” pests and/or invasives
Quarantine and Sanitation
Animal/Plant/IPM connections
“Saving the World, One Plant at a
Time” - Plant Conservation
The focus of this session is on plant conservation.
This session may include reports from grant
recipients as well as topics such as:




“To Build It, Change It, Rearrange It”
Exhibit Design and Maintenance
The focus of this session is animal exhibit design
and maintenance. Presentations may include any
exhibits under construction, new exhibits or
older exhibits and how they’ve aged.
Presentations should address questions such as
“why”, “how”, “what has worked, what has not”,
“in the future we would” as well as maintenance
techniques and changes incorporated to solve
problems.
This session will also include a panel discussion
on Mixed Species Savanna Exhibits. Three to five
panelists are needed to each briefly present their
exhibit, followed by time for crowd sourced
discussion with the panel.
Presentations for this session could also be on
general exhibit design and maintenance. Topics
could include, but are not limited to topics such
as:






“Variegated” – Open Session
This session is for presentations that don’t fit the
focused sessions. This session may include, but is
not limited to topics such as:







Sustainability Practices
Composting, Recycling, and Repurposing
Work Safety
New Plants or Cool Plants
Education Programs
Community Outreach
Plant Sales and Events
In-situ and Ex-situ plant conservation
Plant/Animal connected conservation
Specific Plant Conservation
Plant Conservation Education
Design, Development, & Sustainability
Exhibit design/Landscape Protection
Project management/Bidding
Inspections
Landscape budgets and installation
Utilizing plants in exhibit design
“The Good, the Bad, and the Healthy”
Browse and Toxic Plants
The focus of this session is on browse and toxic
plants. This session may include, but is not
limited to topics such as:





Sustainable Growing and Maintenance
Plant Nutrition
Plant Toxicity Issues
Plant Browse/Animal Interactions
Logistics of Utilizing Browse
Developing a Strong Proposal




Presenter and Panelist Information
What Information Do I Need to Submit?
AZH’s conferences are recognized for
leading the field of zoo horticulture. We
are looking for the best and most
motivating, inspiring, and innovative
educational content.


AZH annual conference registrants have
often said that they are not looking for
“show-and-tell” sessions but rather for
information explaining “how-to” and
“whys” that they can take back to their
respective zoos and implement. So
remember when presenting to explain
the “how-to” and “whys” of what you
present.


AZH conference registrants are diverse.
Your audience potentially includes
Institutional Members representing zoos,
aquariums, botanical gardens, and
arboreta of various sizes and budgets as
well as Individual Members—managers,
gardeners, arborists, volunteers,
students, retirees, and corporate
members from a variety of industries.
AZH conference sessions provide an
opportunity for both new as well as
experienced speakers to present. AZH
members are excited to hear from new
speakers, so if you are new to AZH or
have never presented at an AZH
conference please consider doing so.
Presenting is a great learning
opportunity for all!

AZH members own approaches,
methods, and programs are especially
valuable for presentations. Attendees
can learn very much from each other’s
success, and even from failure.

Please remember this is an online
submission. Be sure to submit all
required information before deadlines.
Please prepare your submission in an MS
Word document, and then attach it to an
email for submission by the deadline; see
additional instructions below.




Presenter Contact Information
Presenters-include Presentation Title
and Outline (see below)
Abstract Title
Abstract – maximum of 100 words
Three Learning Objectives
Presentation Format-25 or 55 minute
presentation or panel discussion
Session – which session
Submission Format - see submission
format below
Proposals are evaluated partly on the strength of
the presenters, and their participation must be
confirmed. The following information is also
needed for all presenters:





Name
Title, Institution
Presenter Bio. for presentation
introduction – maximum of 100 words
Address, City, State, ZIP/Postal Code,
Country
Phone, Fax, E-mail
Proposal Submission Format and
Final Presentation Format
Proposal submissions are to be emailed to the
Program Committee Chair as an MS Word
document. Presentation outlines do not need to
be long; we are only looking for the key points
that will be presented. The three learning
objectives represent what you expect the
audience to learn from your presentation; they
are the overall “big” messages you want your
audience to retain. Panel discussions will require
a lead presenter/moderator to organize all
required information for submission as a unified
proposal to the Program selection committee. If
your proposal is selected for the program finished
PowerPoint presentations need to be submitted
by the deadline below. Details on how to submit
your final PowerPoint will be emailed with your
notification. Presenters and panelists please
review and submit all of the information listed in
this and the previous sections by the deadline
listed below.
Suggested Presentation Formats
Evaluation and Notification
25-Minute Individual Presentations
How are proposals evaluated and
selected?
Structured presentations based on a single,
focused topic. Only one author (on multi-author
papers) will present at the meeting. Presentation
should be no longer than 20 minutes leaving 5
minutes for audience questions.
55-Minute Individual Presentations
Structured presentations based on a single,
focused topic. Only one author (on multi-author
papers) will present at the meeting. Presentation
should be no longer than 45 minutes leaving 10
minutes for audience questions.
55-Minute Multi-Speaker “Crowd Sourced”
Panel Discussion
Three to five panelists provide brief
presentations; a moderator then poses prepared
questions to the panelists and audience. The talkshow format allows for an in-depth focus on a
single topic, offers multiple points of view, and
allows panelists, moderator, and audience to
interact.
Audio/Visual
Microphones will be provided and the equipment
for presentations will be able to show PowerPoint
presentations. If your proposal is selected, you
will need to submit your final PowerPoint
presentation by the required deadline. All
speakers’ presentations will be downloaded onto
a single conference program computer to
facilitate sessions. It is highly recommended that
you also bring a copy of your presentation on
USB drive as a backup for the day of your
presentation. Internet access will not be
available.
Financial Assistance
AZH tries to keep conference fees as low as
possible and therefore does not have a speaker
budget.
During the peer-review process, members of the
Program Selection Committee evaluate
presenter/panelist proposals using the following
criteria:
1. Topic, intent, and learning outcomes that are
focused, well presented, and thoughtfully
articulated
2. A clear and convincing presentation of ideas,
organization, and rationale for choosing
presenters/speakers
3. Confirmed presenters/speakers
4. A diverse selection of presenters/speakers who
represent a wide range of perspectives, regions,
zoo sizes/budgets/missions (Presenters from
outside zoo horticulture are welcome.)
5. An appropriate format that contributes to the
exploration of the topic
6. Important or timely topic
7. Relevance to conference theme and sessions
Notification
In March 2015, you will receive notification of the
status of your proposal and/or your role as a
moderator. If acceptance is contingent on
changes to your proposal, you will have two
weeks to make those changes and get the
amended proposal back to the Program Selection
Committee. Punctuality and cooperation are
appreciated. AZH will determine the specific
timeslots for presenters within sessions. AZH
will notify presenters of their proposed timeslots
as soon as possible. If you are not attending the
full conference and/or need special consideration
of timeslots for your presentation please include
this information in your proposal.
Conference Proceedings
We are also seeking Moderators
Conference proceedings will be established from
abstracts, PowerPoint presentations, and written
narratives submitted for the presentations. All
presenters are required to provide a summary or
written narrative of their PowerPoints. This can
simply be brief sentences describing the message
of each PowerPoint slide or a few paragraphs
describing key points of the presentation. All
presentation materials must be submitted as PDF
files for the proceedings. Presenters must submit
electronically all information to be included in
the 2015 Conference Proceedings to the Program
Committee Chair by September 4, 2015.
Moderators are needed for each session.
Moderators play a critical role in running a
seamless, professional session. Moderating can
be fun and is open to both new as well as
experienced moderators. Read what it involves
below, if this sounds like something you would
like to help with submit the necessary
information to the Program Selection Committee
by the deadline listed below.
Questions?
Who should present at AZH?
Moderators will be expected to:




Anyone with an interest in zoo horticulture is
welcome to participate in the program.
Presenters from disciplines or organizations
outside zoo horticulture are strongly encouraged
to participate. Membership in AZH is not a
prerequisite.
Can I make changes to my abstract with
the online submission?
You will have the ability to update or make
changes to your abstract until the abstract
submission deadline. After the deadline any
requests for abstract changes must be submitted
for approval to the Program Selection
Committee. The ability to allow changes will be
limited by program development deadlines such
as printing of the conference program schedule.



Introduce the session and overview of
the topics and the format
Introduce the presenters including the
presentation’s major points
Manage session time by keeping
presenters on schedule
Assist organization of the session
including presenters, focus, format, etc
Provide interim and summary remarks
Facilitate question and answer periods
Be willing to moderate any of the listed
sessions
The following information is needed for all
moderators:





Name
Title, Institution
Address, City, State, ZIP/Postal Code,
Country
Phone, Fax, e-mail
Moderator Experience and/or
Qualifications (50 words or fewer),
though experience is not required to be a
Moderator
If you are interested in being a Moderator
please review and submit all of the information
listed in this section by the presenter information
deadline listed below.
Deadlines
New for 2015
Presentation proposals, including
abstract, must be submitted via email
by February 20, 2015 to Program
Committee Chair.
Traditionally presentations at the AZH
Conference have mostly included
PowerPoint presentations featuring the
speaker on stage offering excellent
pictures and enlightening information.
These are great and they will continue.
Do not feel that this is the only format to
present at the AZH Conference. The
program committee encourages
presenters to vary the format, keep things
exciting, to think “outside the box”, etc.
Our profession is unique, and some of us
have been called quirky, unusual,
passionate…maybe even distinctive. Our
presentations should reflect these
flattering descriptors. As you prepare to
submit your presentation, do not be
constrained by what you have seen in the
past. All formats will be
considered…PowerPoints, panel
discussions, demonstrations, storytelling,
sermons…surprise us! -Chris
Final PowerPoint presentations and
proceedings must be submitted by
September 4, 2015. Details on how to
submit your PowerPoint will be
included with notification of
proposal acceptance.
New for 2015-Poster Sessions
In San Francisco, we will present an
exciting new format sharing an experience
or creation from our work. We will have
the opportunity to express ourselves via
posters, a graphic pictorial and narrative
piece. The posters will be on display from
the beginning of the conference and a time
will be set aside to meet the authors and
explore further. Submittals for poster
presentations will be in conjunction with
all conference presentation material but
will have its own criteria and process. A
Call for Posters with all information is
forthcoming.
For more information and where to
send proposals
Program Committee Chair:
Chris Dailey
Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
[email protected]