SORTEE (the Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) annual conference was held on 15-16th of October. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
By now, I hope, most of our readers should know about SORTEE (it's been around for 4 years). A few of our lab members participated in its creation, and many others joined the team of volunteers who help run the society and participate in its many activities, including the conference. This year was no different, with our lab members facilitating several sessions, especially unconferences and hackathons (the conference program is still available here). 💫💫💫💫💫
All the events were run virtually over 24 hours to include all timezones across the globe. The registered participants came from 35 countries (see the map above), representing higher geographic diversity than ever before (and it was visible during the sessions too!). The conference registration was free for SORTEE members and very cheap for non-members (or free, as needed - no questions asked). The two great plenary talks were recorded, as well as introductory and concluding talks by SORTEE President Rose O'Dea (all recordings, including from the earlier years, are available here). The conference itself went extremely well, with no hiccups, thanks to the fantastic effort and strategic skills of the organising committee, which I cannot praise enough. So thanks again everybody! 💜💜💜💜💜
SORTEE is a non-profit organisation, which strives to be inclusive and serve the scientific community. It relies exclusively on the volunteers. So, if you haven't volunteered in one of the many roles available yet, or wish to do more, you can still nominate yourself (and encourage others to do so) - nominations close October 30th via an online form available here. Have fun, learn new skills, network, and help making science more open! 🧚🧚🧚🧚🧚
I am looking forward for another SORTEE conference, in 2025, and all the different events and activities that will come before that (if you are not a member yet, join SORTEE to participate!). ✨✨✨✨✨✨