AVA Meeting at University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology Museum
Tuesday 23rd September 2008

Animal Camouflage: Questions, Answers and New Directions

Programme
The meeting will be held in the Department of Zoology Museum, and will comprise a series of discussions and talks about current issues regarding animal camouflage and vision.

10:00 Arrival, Registration, & Coffee

Morning Session
10:45: Introduction (Martin Stevens)

11:00: Discussion Session 1: What is crypsis? (Graeme Ruxton)

11:45: Discussion Session 2: Effects of light environment on camouflage against textured surfaces (Patrick Green, Jiri Filip, Alasdair Clarke, Mike Chantler)

12:15: Discussion Session 3: Vision in a nocturnal predator: the barn owl (Wolf Harmening, Katrin Goebbels, Julius Orlowski, Petra Nikolay, and Hermann Wagner)

12:45-14:00: Lunch & Posters

Afternoon Session 1
14:00: Short Talk 1: Behaviourally-mediated crypsis in two nocturnal moths with contrasting appearance (Richard Webster, Alison Callahan, Jean-Guy Godin & Thomas Sherratt)

14:20: Short Talk 2: Why do cryptic animals keep still? (Christos Ioannou, Graeme Ruxton & Jens Krause)

14:40: Short Talk 3: An investigation into the effects of varying orientation of axes of symmetry on the detection time of cryptic targets (Sorcha Mc Ginty)

15:00: Discussion Session 4: Symmetry and Camouflage (Innes Cuthill)

15:45-16:15: Coffee & Posters

Afternoon Session 2
16:15: Short Talk 4: Perception of edges and visual texture in the camouflage of cuttlefish (Sarah Zylinski & Daniel Osorio)

16:35: Short Talk 5: Background complexity, prey pattern regularity and prey detection (Marina Dimitrova & Sami Merilaita)

16:55: Short Talk 6: Why are distractors distracting? (Emma Howell, Tom Troscianko & Innes Cuthill)

17:15: Discussion Session 5: Figure-Ground & Visual Search (Tom Troscianko)

18:00-19:00: Wine Reception

Student bursaries:
The AVA has £500 pounds for up to 5 bursaries (£100 maximum per bursary), for students who are giving presentations to be able to attend the meeting (travel and meeting costs). Applicants will need to provide a justification and a letter of support from their supervisor. Please send these to ms726@cam.ac.uk

The cost of registration is as follows:

REGISTRATION FEES

Registration fees *should* be paid in advance at the registration rates shown below using PayPal.
If you do not have a PayPal account, then cheques (drawn on a UK Bank in £ Sterling and made payable to Applied Vision Association) can be sent to Emma Gowen at the address below.

Cash or cheque payments will also be accepted on the door, but credit card facilities will *not* be available. Please, make sure we know that you are coming by dropping us an email, if you neither submit an abstract nor pay in advance.

Costs of registration:

AVA Member registration @ £30

Student members @ £15

Non-members @ £40

Student non-members @ £25

Non-student special offer @ £50

Student special offer @ £35

The special offer is for conference registration plus life membership of the AVA.

How to get to the meeting:
For information on getting to Cambridge and the Department of Zoology, see:
http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/zooone/department/how_to_find.htm
and for the museum:
http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/museum/visits.htm

Accommodation:
We have reserved 25 non-ensuite Bed and Breakfast rooms for both the night before and day of the conference. Accommodation per person for one night is £40.50, and £31.20 per night if staying both nights. Breakfast is full English. Internet access in rooms is included (for those delegates bringing laptops), as are towels & tea & coffee making facilities.
Accommodation is in Wolfson Court (part of Girton College), approximately a 20 minute walk to the conference value through the historic parts of Cambridge. Directions and additional details can be found on: http://conferences.girton.cam.ac.uk/

Those wishing to book accommodation should contact Girton directly (conferences@girton.cam.ac.uk) stating:
-the conference name
-venue (Wolfson Court)
-their name, arrival date and departure date, and any special needs.
Payment can be made on arrival, by cash, cheque or chip & pin.