Animal Behavior virtual conferences for Summer/Fall 2020 that are free (or nearly free)

A silver lining of COVID-19 is that amazing conferences have become far easier and far cheaper to attend. For interdisciplinary researchers, you can now dip your toe into venues that you might not otherwise be able to justify spending the resources on. So it is a great time to branch out!

As an example, there are FOUR virtual Animal Behavior conferences that will be taking place soon this summer or early fall. They are free or nearly free (at least for students), and all of them are still accepting talk/poster abstracts at the time of this posting. If you are doing empirical or theoretical work in animal behavior and would normally present your work at a more methods-based conference, this is a great opportunity to get feedback from the larger behavior community. If you are not currently directly researching behavior, you might really enjoy just hearing reports of great, state-of-the-art research into animal behavior.

My background is in engineering, and I have found that animal behavior conferences to be the most educational and useful in generating bio-inspiration for me. These conferences showcase how animals interact with each other and the world around them in potentially adaptive ways. Plus, it's a great showcase of natural history for those who don't feel like they are naturally naturalists!

So check these out. And this is probably not an exhaustive list!

• ABS 2020 Virtual Meeting [USA animal behavior]
• Nearly free:
• Free registration for student members
• Student membership is $25
• Talk abstracts due: June 17, 2020
• Conference: July 28–30, 2020
• https://www.animalbehaviorsociety.org/2020-virtual/
• Animal Behavior Live [new annual venue; global]
• Free registration
• Talk abstracts due: June 30, 2020
• Conference: 20 & 21 August 2020
• http://animalbehaviour.live/
• ASAB Virtual Conference [British animal behaviour]
• Free registration
• Talk abstracts due: 16th June 2020
• Conference: 16th July 2020
• https://www.asabvirtual.org/
• ASSAB Virtual Conference [Australian animal behaviour]
• Free registration
• [ info coming soon ]
• Conference: 28th September – 1st October, 2020
• https://www.assab.org/

Zoom Virtual Background for Short/Coffee Breaks ("I'll be right back!")

You might know that Zoom has a non-verbal feedback option under the Participants list that includes a "need a break." You could use this to indicate when you have stepped away, but it is intended to indicate to the speaker that you are requesting a break.

So what is an option to indicate to everyone that you have stepped away and aren't just having video problems? One option is to create a virtual background that includes some status signage (or, alternatively, you can make the signage part of your profile picture that shows when your camera is off). Here is an image I put behind me to indicate to others that I've stepped away very briefly and will be back soon.

You can download and use the image above. You can also download the PowerPoint version so you can make edits to it. Here I am with my virtual background behind me. Of course, normally I would only put this up when I was out of the room. :-)

Another option is to print out a tiny version of the image above and hang it in front of your camera. :-)

UPDATE: Another option for this is to combine Zoom with a virtual camera from mmHmm. mmHmm has "Be right back" options that you can quickly switch on and off with far fewer steps than raw Zoom.