The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) works to promote a welcoming environment at its meetings and events that is safe, collaborative, supportive, and productive for all stakeholders as defined: attendees (remote & in-person), organizing committee members, contractors, staff, volunteers, exhibitors, and service providers. SCB values the diversity of views, expertise, opinions, backgrounds, and experiences reflected among the conference planners, exhibitors, and attendees. Indeed, we believe that the best way to advance knowledge is through the open, free, and respectful exchange of ideas while refraining from unacceptable behavior that may intimidate or threaten other stakeholders. To that end, we expect all stakeholders as defined above to abide by the following Code of Conduct:
Expected Behavior
Treat everyone with respect and consideration.
Communicate thoughtfully with others and be considerate of the multitude of views and opinions that are different than your own, in all situations including but not limited to: while presenting, in one-one conversations and online chats, during question & answer sessions, at exhibitor tables, and within group or breakout discussion.
If presenting, adhere to LACA presenter guidelines.
Critique ideas, rather than people, and give constructive feedback.
Consult the meeting app and website for individual presenter permission for sharing on social media or elsewhere, and adhere to the permissions granted.
Be mindful of your surroundings, your fellow participants, and unacceptable behavior as outlined below.
Alert SCB LACA/conference staff immediately if you notice a situation that violates the code of conduct or someone in distress.
Respect the rules and policies of all venues associated with the meeting.
Any groups or individuals that wish to distribute petitions, surveys, or gain signature/agreement to statements at the conference must gain approval by the LACA Board one month prior to the conference. Contact scblacacongress@gmail.com to gain approval – an application for approval does not guarantee approval.
Unacceptable Behavior
Participation, facilitation, or promotion of harassment*, intimidation* or discrimination* behaviors at the meeting, event, or via social media associated with the meeting, event, or other associated activities organized by LACA organizing committee.
Physical, emotional, or verbal abuse* of any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, LACA staff or board member, service provider or other meeting or event guest.
Disruption* of talks at the meeting/event or other associated activities organized by LACA organizing committee.
Disbursement of offensive or insensitive materials as related to the guidelines of unacceptable behavior*.
SCB LACA is strongly committed to facilitating the open discussion of ideas. However, in the interest of maintaining the conference as a welcoming space for all attendees, we reserve the right to forbid distribution of offensive or insensitive political or other material.
Exhibitors & Individuals: Placement of materials on exhibitors’ or venue tables other than your exhibitor table without permission.
Violating sharing permissions of any presenter – check the conference app/program for sharing permission for any presentation. If no sharing permission is granted, nothing can be shared from that presentation.
Spamming** participants or posting unsolicited links in comments, questions, or chat boxes on conference app or online platform.
Publicly sharing the location or contact information of any other participant beyond information shared in the LACA materials in any public forum including in social media.
*Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to inappropriate comments related to gender, sexual orientation or identity, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, national origin, socioeconomic status; inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces or in presentations, threatening, bullying or stalking any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, LACA staff or member, or service provider. Determination of violating materials is at the sole discretion of SCB-LACA.
**Examples of spam include commercial materials, unsolicited self promotion, or comments or questions intended to annoy or disrupt proceedings
Consequences
Anyone requested to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.
SCB LACA staff (or their designee) or security may take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including immediate removal from the organizing committee or meeting without warning or refund and removal of all contributed content (e.g., presentation recording, poster).
In addition to other consequences, any illegal behavior will result in contacting the appropriate authorities.
SCB LACA reserves the right to prohibit participation in any future planning effort and/or attendance at any future meeting. Violations of the code of conduct may also impact ability to attend or participate in future SCB activities outside of the LACA section.
Process for Reporting Unacceptable Behavior
If you are the subject of unacceptable behavior or have witnessed any such behavior, please immediately follow these steps:
Remove yourself from the situation and find a safe space.
Onsite/In-person: Contact information will be provided on your conference badge and in the conference app to report an incidence of unacceptable behavior to the designated Conflict Resolution Officer(s) onsite at the conference. SCB LACA Director & SCB LACA President, and, if deemed necessary, other members of Executive Committee of the SCB LACA Board will be notified of the incident and the on-call Conflict Resolution Officer may be requested to provide confidential conflict resolution facilitation. If the incident involves the SCB LACA Director or a member of the Executive Committee of the SCB LACA Board, the incident will not be reported to that individual except to enact any consequences deemed necessary. All information will remain confidential among aforementioned parties. The incident will be discussed in-person in a private location at the conference. Resulting actions/consequences will be determined on a case by case basis. Please see above for consequences that may result from incidents in violation of the code of conduct.
OR
Online/remote resolution preferred:
Contact scblacacongress@gmail.com (SCB LACA Director) or the SCB Ombuds (scbombuds@conbio.org) to provide a description of the concern if an incident occurs outside of the conference, or if you wish to resolve the issue remotely. See the SCB Ombuds webpage for more information on the procedures they will follow when contacted. If the email above is contacted, the Executive Committee of the SCB LACA Board will be notified of the incident. If the incident involves the SCB LACA Director or a member of the Executive Committee of the SCB LACA board, the incident will not be reported to that individual except to enact any consequences deemed necessary. All information will remain confidential among aforementioned parties. Resulting actions/consequences will be determined on a case by case basis. Please see above for consequences that may result from incidents in violation of the code of conduct.