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### Join us, April 12, 2024!
# Florida Meeting For Advancing Participatory Science (MAPS)
**Registration is now open!** Rates and information below.
##### About Florida MAPS 2024
Join participatory science practitioners from across the state for a day of recognizing opportunities, showcasing excellence, and envisioning new partnerships in support of high-impact participatory sciences—variously called citizen science, community science, crowdsourced science, volunteer monitoring, and other things—in Florida.
The meeting will be held at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.
(left: Horseshoe Crab Citizen Science Project Cedar Key photo by Florida Sea Grant)
## Program elements
This meeting will be a blend of panel discussions, engaged lightning talk sessions, and visioning activities that aims to position everyone well for new and improved relevance to science, Florida communities, and other stakeholders. Click the images below to explore session details.
Jovita will share key research about the nature of volunteerism in Florida and its implications for the field. She’ll also cover key, relevant insights and strategies to grow volunteer engagement in organizations.
This panel will feature a discussion with state agencies and a university researcher working on conservation research and management. Panelists will share how forging partnerships and utilizing participatory science methods can dramatically expand the reach of conservation initiatives. We aim to inspire both our panelists and attendees to find creative ways to foster collaborations with stakeholders–including fellow researchers, government agencies, local communities, landowners, and others. By working together and leveraging one another's diverse expertise, networks, resources and ideas, we can amplify our individual efforts.
Lightning talks will advance big ideas, invite feedback, or share stories that identify common interests for those working in this field in Florida. Talks will be followed by a short panel Q and A and small group discussions for deeper engagement.
In this fish bowl style panel, we will hear from representatives from facilitator organizations–museums, schools, girl scout troops, and more–discussing the foundations of a strong partnership with participatory science projects. The panelists will share about their experience incorporating citizen science into their programming and offer advice for others seeking to work with facilitator organizations. The goal is to emerge from this session with new connections and ideas for win-win partnerships.
Visioning session to explore the potential of a Florida participatory science network
## Elevate attention to your work in this field:
##### Presentation opportunities:
This event will feature up to 30 lightning talks that advance big ideas, invite feedback, or share stories that identify common interests for those working in this field in Florida.
To be considered, prepare a short, 150-word summary of what you'd like to share and submit it as part of your registration. Details of the summary are below.
**Want to propose a lightning talk? Please generally follow the format suggested below when drafting your summary, which could also be used to structure the talk itself.**
* **Background**: Why your work matters – the challenge, need, or opportunity that you addressed.
* **Activities**: How you addressed (or plan to address) the challenge, need, or opportunity.
* **Take-aways**: What did you accomplish (or expect to accomplish)? What have you discovered about the world? What lessons did you learn?
### Registration:
Registration includes morning refreshments and lunch. Admission to the museum is included with registration with time over lunch to explore the collections.
***Please register by April 1, 2024 to ensure we have sufficient food. A small surcharge will be added for registrations received after April 1st.***
##### Regular Ticket
General: $80 | AAPS Member: $60
##### Reduced Ticket
General: $55 | AAPS Member $40
##### Community Ticket
General: $35 | AAPS Member: $0
**AAPS Members** receive registration discounts to this and other events\* in addition to many other benefits of connecting across this community throughout the year. 
**Reduced ticket rates are available to the following groups:**
* Students – to qualify, students will be required to upload verification of current enrollment.
* K-12 Formal classroom teachers and educators in afterschool programs- educators will be asked to indicate school district and/or afterschool organization to qualify.
* Retirees – those who advanced or continue to work in this field in an emeritus/retiree capacity.
**Community Ticket prices are available to the following groups:**
* Environmental Justice Practitioners and Indigenous Practitioners –EJ/I practitioners are welcome to register at this rate. However, if your participation in this event can be covered by professional development funds or a grant, please consider registering at one of the above rates.
* Project Volunteers – for anyone whose sole role in this field is as a project volunteer basis.
##### The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
This event will be held at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the official state art museum of Florida. Established as the legacy of John and Mable Ringling, its mission is to be a place of art, architecture, and circus that inspires, educates, and entertains.
The museum is located at 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota FL 34243.
This meeting will be held in Center for Asian Art pictured to the left.
### Lodging information:
There are numerous hotels in and around the Sarasota area and we encourage you to find accommodations that best fit your situation. If hotels near the Ringling Museum are cost prohibitive, please consider looking outside of Sarasota for lower rate options (check Hampton Inns along I-75 north and south of Sarasota). With a 10am start time you should have ample time to make it to the event venue even if staying outside of the city.
### Event supported by these planning partners:
* Florida State University’s Institute for Digital Information & Scientific Communication and .
*   Managing fish and wildlife resources for their long-term well-being and the benefit of people.
* : an online hub for thousands of citizen science projects that connects prospective participants to projects via sophisticated project finder tools.
* This meeting has been coordinated with support from the 
Many thanks to planning team members Austin Mast (FSU); Sharon Tatem (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission); Caroline Nickerson (SciStarter); Reanna Putnam (AAPS); and Jennifer Shirk (AAPS)
**EQUITY STATEMENT:**
AAPS  is committed to providing an equitable and inclusive meeting and celebrating the diverse voices in our space. AAPS strives to ensure that all our members and participants feel welcome and comfortable sharing their insights and contributions with the larger participatory sciences community and that all our participants can meaningfully engage in our events.
If you are interested in shaping how equity is woven into our events, please consider joining the planning team. Contact events@citizenscience.org for more information.
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