DFC 2026: Desert Fishes Council Annual Symposium 2026 Sul Ross State University Alpine, TX, United States, November 18-22, 2026

Announcement & Call for Papers

Here you will find everything needed to participate, submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations, make hotel reservations, get the conference program, and plan your travel to beautiful Alpine, Texas for the 2026 Annual Symposium of the Desert Fishes Council!

Check this page or the conference website periodically for updates and subscribe to the Council’s email discussion list (DFC-L) to be advised by email of meeting-related news.

Location:

The meeting will be held at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, the gateway to Big Bend National Park and numerous other beautiful protected areas. Alpine's Chihuahuan Desert brings mild, pleasant days (60's°F) and cool nights (40°F) in November, with dark skies and incredible stargazing opportunities.

Downtown Alpine is home to numerous shops and restaurants in a friendly small town setting. We previously held hihgly successful meetings in Alpine in 2001 and 2019, and we're excited to return this year.

Accommodations:

Accommodations for a block of hotel rooms are being made at multiple hotels for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. All hotels are downtown, within short driving distance of the Convention Center.

Watch for updates in this section by late-August.

In the event that the designated hotels are fully booked or other accommodations are needed, the city of Alpine's website lists more than 70 places available for accomodation and there are camping options nearby as well.

Travel:

Alpine is located in west Texas along US Highway 90, and is roughly a 3-hour drive from El Paso International Airport, a 2.5-hour drive from the Midland International Air & Space Port, and a 5.5-hour drive from the San Antonio International Airport.

Rail travel to Alpine is also available from Amtrak via the Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle routes, which combine to offer a frequency of six days per week. The station is located at 102 West Holland Avenue and serves as a primary rail gateway for west Texas and Big Bend National Park.

Ride / Room share:

Watch for updates in this section and subscribe to DFC-L for information about ride sharing or room sharing.

If you are looking for a ride or room share, please feel free to post on DFC-L for this purpose.

Attendees might consider ride share from either airport.

Registration:

Payment of registration fees is required. Only current members of the DFC can present papers, nominate Executive Committee candidates, run for the Executive Committee, and vote in the business meeting.

Our Annual Membership page is where you’ll pay membership dues and then you can register on the meeting registration page.

Become a life member and never worry about membership again!

Deadline for early registration is midnight October 9, 2026.

Registration fees:

• Latin member, professional – $75 early registration, $150 late registration
• Latin member, student – $50 early registration, $100 late registration
• Non-latin member, professional – $325 early registration, $650 late registration
• Non-latin member, student – $125 early registration, $250 late registration
• Non-member – $350 early registration, $700 late registration
• Banquet companion ticket (non-attending) – $50

Executive Committee Elections:

Become an Officer! Help guide the course of Desert Fishes Council.

This year, the Member at Large position is up for election.

Positions are two-years duration.

Candidates for Officers of the Council may be nominated in 3 ways: (1) registered members may nominate a candidate via email to the DFC Member-At-Large Lindsey Elkins (lindsey.c.elkins@gmail.com) at least 48 hours prior to the Annual Business Meeting, (2) members may nominate candidates from the floor during the Business Meeting, and/or (3) members may nominate a candidate via a nomination form placed in a nomination box at the registration desk during the annual meeting. Nomination forms will be included in the meeting registration packet provided to members attending the meeting. All nominees must be registered members of the Council.

Schedule:

The short program and long program will become available after the abstract deadline.

Field Trips:

Field Trips -- more details to come!

Abstract Submission:

To be considered for presentation, all contributions, whether orally presented papers or posters, must be relevant to the mission of the Desert Fishes Council (DFC): "...to preserve the biological integrity of desert aquatic ecosystems and their associated life forms, to hold symposia to report related research and management endeavors, and to effect rapid dissemination of information concerning activities of the Council and its members."

All presentations will be in person.

Before starting to write your abstract, please read and comply with our instructions to authors.

To submit an abstract, use the submission link and submit by the deadline (9 October 2026).

You will need to first establish an account with Easychair.org.

• Complete your EasyChair profile (content of which is used in your abstract submission).
• Read the instructions provided in the form before entering content.
• Submission of an abstract will notify the DFC Program Secretary and all listed co-authors.
• Coauthors that have an Easychair account will be able to edit the abstract.
• Editing of content will be possible until the abstract submission deadline (9 October 2026).

Each presenter is limited to a single oral presentation, but poster presentations are less limited and are encouraged. Because program space is limited, order of receipt will determine acceptance and is influential in the programming of presentations (but special symposia and student awards are scheduled separately).

Area Reports - We invite anyone with relevant conservation or research projects to contribute to the Area or Regional report for your region. To do so, provide a brief account to the appropriate area coordinator, or contact the Areas Coordinator Matthew Mayer (mamayer4@gmail.com).

Special Symposium:

A special session is being organized that will focus on the impacts of long-term drought on desert fishes, other aquatic species, and freshwater habitats across Texas and the greater Southwest region.

Oral Presentations:

• File format for oral presentations should be PowerPoint (ppt, .pptx, .pps, .ppsx).
• To ensure your presentation is loaded into the correct directory, please use the following format for your filename. DayStartTimeLastName.ppt.
  • Time should be in 24-hour format without a colon.
  • Refer to the Short Program to make sure you get the date and time correct.
  • Example - Saturday1600Hoagstrom.pptx
• You can email your presentation file directly to the Program Secretary (Michael Bogan) michaelthomasbogan@gmail.com by 8pm the night before your presentation, or present it to Michael or DFC tech volunteers on a USB drive in person the day before your presentation (earlier submissions will be appreciated).
• Oral presentations should be timed to last 12-13 minutes.
  • This will allow time for questions and for transition to the next speaker.

Poster Presentations:

Posters should be 36 by 48 inches or less.

Implements needed to hang posters will be available at the conference.

Publication:

Abstracts from DFC2026 will be added to the Council's online published index of abstracts.

Resolutions:

If you wish to propose a resolution that furthers the objectives of the Council, please submit the resolution to the DFC President Lindsey Elkins (lindsey.c.elkins@gmail.com) by the abstract submittal deadline. Proposed resolutions must be submitted with complete lists of proposed recipients of the resolution and all contact information for those individuals. Proposed resolutions will be reviewed by a committee of members appointed for this purpose. If deemed in compliance, proposed resolutions accepted by that committee shall be discussed by the assembled membership at the Annual Business Meeting and ratified by majority vote. The author of a resolution will report to the membership where appropriate.

Contacts:

Lindsey Elkins – local organizer

• lindsey.c.elkins@gmail.com

Michael Bogan – program secretary

• michaelthomasbogan@gmail.com