The Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA) is the oldest marine aquarium conference in North America.

MACNA is managed by the Marine Aquarium Societies of North America (MASNA), supporting the goals and programs of the MASNA charter.

MACNA is a combination of several events. It is an educational symposium where people can attend lectures from industry leaders, conservationists, authors, and scientists. It is also a trade show where hobbyists can buy the hottest new corals and see new cutting edge equipment. Attendees can also give their feedback to manufacturers so they can continue to bring us the innovations we are looking for. And lastly it is a social event. Many speakers, vendors, and hobbyists come to socialize with each other. It gives people an opportunity to put faces with names they might see on a message board or email.

• • Most posters are created in software like Microsoft Powerpoint or Adobe Illustrator. We have provided a Powerpoint Template (HERE) as a starting guide to help you create your poster. This is not a “plug & play” template where you just paste your text and images into it. It is merely a starting point; use your creative freedom to make an effective and visually appealing poster. There are plenty of resources both online and offline for helping you design your poster. A simple internet search will yield plenty of viable guides. Below, we provide guidelines for what is required (and suggested) for your MASNA Poster.

• • Posters shall be 4 feet wide × 3 feet high and will be posted on a free-standing bulletin board. Remember that when you make the poster in the digital software, make sure the dimensions of the document 4’ × 3’ (48” × 36”). Do not make the mistake of making it small (e.g. letter size) and printing it large. Chances are, it will become very pixelated if you do.

• • Poster presentations should incorporate illustrative materials such as tables, graphs, photographs, and large-print text. The materials should be clearly readable from a distance of three feet (primary text font must be 20 points or larger, and headings font must be at least 30 points).
    • MASNA Recommends
      • Title: 60 pts or higher (if you have room go up to 85 pt)
      • Author(s) & Institution(s): 48 pt
      • Headers: 60 pt
      • Body Text: 28 pt
      • Figure & table captions: 18 pt
      • References: 16 pt
    • Suggested segments are
      • Title
      • Authors and their Affiliated Institution(s)
      • Introduction
      • Methodology
      • Results/Conclusions
      • Acknowledgments
      • Funding Attributions (If applicable)
      • References

• • Posters are assigned a session number and bulletin board number and are organized by keyword when possible. No audio visual equipment can be used.

• • First-time submitters are encouraged to seek feedback from professors or other mentors who are able to provide guidance regarding their poster.

• Aesthetics: Color choice and contrast are very important parts of poster design. There are websites out there that can help you pick a color scheme from a starting color that you like (Example color schemer) or from an image that you intend to use. This guide from NYU is also a good and thorough reference. If your text color is too light, it will be hard to read on a white or light background. The same is true for dark texts and dark backgrounds. Whatever palette you choose, make sure that your text and background color have enough contrast (here).

Example Scientific Poster (Click to open)

• Here is the information to the closest FedEx to the MACNA 2020 location
  • FedEx Office Print & Ship Center
    312 E Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202

Poster submissions and authors will be judged using first a scoring technique, and then a peer review to select the winners for each category. Entries will be judged on the following dimensions:

• Composition
  • Whether or not the introduction clearly orients the reader to the specific goals of the project, and if there is sound justification for the project.
  • Whether or not goals, methods, results, and discussion are scientifically sound.
• Achievement
  • Were the intended goals and objectives met?
  • Is the information presented accurate?
• Presentation
  • The readability, layout, flow, and general aesthetics of the poster.
  • The balance of text, figures, and negative space.
  • Their ability to effectively explain their research to the MACNA attendees.

Potential Abstract Topics:

• Marine Ornamental Vertebrate Breeding
  • Pomacentridae Breeding
  • Acanthuridae Breeding
  • Pomacanthidae Breeding
• Marine Ornamental Invertebrate Sexual Reproduction
  • SECORE
• Marine Ornamental Invertebrate Asexual Reproduction
• Ocean Acidification
• Climate Change
• Invasive Species Mitigation
  • Lionfish in the Atlantic / Caribbean
  • Invasive Macro Algae Mitigation
  • Invasive Sun Coral (Tubastraea) Mitigation
• Zoonotic Diseases
• Palytoxins
• Cyanide Detection
• Banggai Cardinalfish
• Biosecurity
• Micro Algae
• Marine Aquarium Fisheries / Trade
  • Reviews of Secondary Data to Establish Benchmarks for Trade Volume, or Species Identification
  • Impacts of Trade on Industry, and/or Biosecurity Management in Trade
  • Impacts of Trade on the US Economy
  • CITIES
• Species Hybridization
  • Taxonomic Clarification
• Low Nutrient Systems
  • Or the reasons for some (or specific) nutrients in systems
• Marine Aquarium Technology / Hardware Innovations
• Nitrogen Cycle
• Trace Nutrient Importance
• Marine Aquarium Chemistry
• Marine Aquarium Equipment
  • The Science Behind LED Lighting Technologies
  • Uses of Equipment to Support Spawning Behavior in Fish or Coral
• Microbiomes
  • Sea-Water Testing Techniques
  • Bacterial Pathogens
• Bio-Media and Filtration Techniques

P002: Comparative Analysis of U.S. Aquaculture Management to the FAO Certification Guidelines: An Assessment Tool. Walsh, Michelle “Mick” L; Jones, Robert C
P003: Specialization in Salt- water Aquarium Keeping: An Exploration of Science and Conservation Behaviors in a “Science and Leisure” Hobby. Marchio, Elizabeth A
P004: Captive Culture and Larval Development of the Melanurus Wrasse Halichoeres melanurus. Groover, Elizabeth M; DiMaggio, Matthew A; Alo, Micah M; Digidio, Jon L
P005: The Spawning and Rearing of Elactinus ocean- ops in a Low-Density System on a Small Budget. Cannella, Laura; Rice, Patrick; Walsh, Michelle “Mick” L; Knorr, Travis
P006: Breeding the Frostbite. Hirt, Kyle
P007: Establishing a Length-Weight Relationship for Post-Metamorphosis Juvenile Ocellaris Clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris. Knorr, Travis G; Walsh, Michelle “Mick” L; Rice, Patrick H
P008: How Florida Keys Community College Changed My Life. Soucy, Breanna N
P009: A comparison of the effect of different frag sizes on the growth of Montipora capricornis using micro- fragmentation. Lynch, Sam W; Lynch, Katherine M
P010: An Evaluation of The “Other” Lionfish in the Marine Ornamental Trade. Lyons, Timothy J; Hill, Jeffrey E; Tuckett, Quenton M

These posters presented at MACNA 2016 are available for download.

P004: The Fast-Growth Protocol: Accelerating Coral Growth for Reef Restoration in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Download here.
P005: A new method for testing Praziquantel in seawater. Download here.
P006: Marine Ornamental Aquaculture in the Northeast US: The state of the Industry. Download here.
P007: Aquaculturing the next generation marine aquarists. Download here.
P008: Recent Marine Ornamental Finfish Aquaculture Efforts in Hawaii. Download here.
P009: Mapping the population diversity of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus through citizen science. Download here.
P012: The effects of tank type on the spawning behavior of the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus. Download here.
P014: ON DRUGS: The Sedative Effects of Clove Oil on Post-metamorphose Juvenile Clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris. Download here.
P015: The Aquarium Hobby: Science as Leisure. Download here.