Meeting | csetac

2025 Carolinas SETAC Annual Meeting

April 17th- 19th

Thursday - Saturday

Fort Johnson

Charleston, SC

We hope you can join us along the South Carolina coast for our 2025 Annual Meeting! We will be meeting at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Marine Resources Research Institute (MRRI) on the collaborative campus of Fort Johnson. Fort Johnson is located on James Island in Charleston, SC and houses five partner institutions, including SCDNR, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), the Medical University of South Carolina, and the College of Charleston.

Meeting registration includes meals as indicated below and coffee breaks throughout the meeting.

Meeting registrants have been sent additional logistics (including event locations, presenter information, and abstracts) via email provided at registration.

Thursday April 17th

Marsh Cleanup (1:00 pm - 4:00 pm)

Join us for a litter cleanup! We are partnering with the South Carolina Aquarium and South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium to remove litter from Brittlebank Park, a popular waterfront park on the downtown Charleston peninsula. We will discuss the importance of litter cleanups and record data in the SC Aquarium’s Litter Journal. Our efforts will contribute to their ongoing citizen-science efforts while improving local environmental quality. All materials will be provided, but we encourage you to bring boots and a reusable water bottle!

**NOTE: Please eat lunch before the cleanup**

Informal Social at Edmund's Oast Brewing Co. (arrive ~5:00 pm)

CSETAC has reserved some outdoor seating. 1/2 price happy hour food & drink deals until 6pm.

RiverDogs Baseball Game (7:05 pm start time)

For those who have prepaid tickets, we will head to the Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park to watch the Charleston RiverDogs play ball!

Friday April 18th

Arrival and Registration (8:00 am - 8:30 am)

light continental breakfast & coffee/tea provided

Welcome, Logistics, and SETAC Updates (8:30 am - 9:15 am)

Plenary Talk by Dr. Austin Gray (9:15 am - 10:25 am)

Two Roads Diverged along a Changing Planet: The Past, Present, and Future of Ecosystem Ecology and Ecotoxicology

Dr. Austin Gray is an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Virginia. Dr. Gray’s current research interests include understanding the ecological impacts of emerging contaminants including; microplastics, pharmaceuticals and personal care products. He utilizes analytical methods to identify occurrence and distribution of both emerging and legacy contaminants in environmental matrices and toxicological approaches to understand adverse physiological effects. Dr. Gray has appointments at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens Georgia and Virginia Tech Global Change Center, Blacksburg Virginia. He is the recipient of countless research, travel, presentation and merit awards including the most recent NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award.

Platform Presentations (10:45 am-4:45 pm)

catered taco bar from California Tortilla provided (with a selection to fit dietary needs)

We will have 4 sessions of traditional platform presentations (12-minute presentation + 3-minute questions) from students and professionals, with breaks throughout the day to socialize and network.

Social Dinner (5:30 pm)

We will head over to the Charles Towne Fermentory for dinner!

Food will be provided by Roti Rolls (with a selection to fit dietary needs)