Meeting Policies
The Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) strongly encourages meeting
participants to be vaccinated against respiratory illnesses, such as
influenza, RSV, or COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention lists authorized vaccines by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and those authorized by the WHO. Masking is optional.
The Society for Developmental Biology supports an environment for the exchange of scientific ideas that is grounded in dignity and respect for all program participants. The Society understands that a diverse, inclusive and collegial community culture promotes scientific creativity and progress, and it endeavors to adhere to this culture in all its educational, outreach, conference and awards activities.
No Harassment Policy
Program participants are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and to treat each other with respect. This expectation applies to the Board of Directors, other volunteers, members, event attendees, employees, consultants, vendors, and others while at the Society office, while representing the Society elsewhere, and while attending events organized by the Society.
Program participants shall not engage in any behavior that interferes with another’s ability to participate fully in the Society’s activities. In particular, program participants shall not make unwelcome sexual advances, make requests for sexual favors, or engage in other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual or offensive nature.
No Violence Policy
The Society has adopted a policy of “zero-tolerance” with respect to violence in the Society office, while representing the Society elsewhere, and while attending events organized by the Society. The Society prohibits acts or threats of violence by any program participant. In addition, the Society will not tolerate acts or threats of violence against program participants.
Reporting
If a program participant discovers any conduct which they believe violates this policy or is otherwise detrimental to the Society, they are asked to promptly report it to the Executive Director, Ida Chow.
In an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the 2025 Mid-Atlantic SDB Meeting, the Organizing Committee has taken several steps to make our meeting more environmentally friendly.
To reduce fossil fuel consumption, we encourage attendees to travel to Richmond by train. Amtrak’s Northeastern Regional (Boston to Newport News) and the Palmetto (New York to Miami) lines stop at Richmond Staples Mill Road Train Station (RVR). This station is 10 minutes away by rideshare from the meeting hotel and 15 minutes from the University of Richmond. The train ride between RVR and Washington DC’s Union Station is two hours, and Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station is about five hours. It takes almost the same time to drive or fly between these cities and Richmond as taking the train.
At the meeting, we will provide limited shuttle services to and from the hotel to the meeting venue. A shuttle service will also be available to transport participants at the end of the meeting to the RVR train station in time for them to take the 5:34 PM Amtrak 124 Northeastern Regional train to Washington, DC.
If the train is not an option, consider carpooling. Carpooling reduces the carbon footprint per car occupant. It also allows the passengers to use the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV)/express lanes on Interstate 95. With a transponder, HOVs can use express lanes for free. Express lanes reduce carbon footprint by avoiding traffic and reducing travel time.
Our meeting venue is committed to sustainability. The University of Richmond aims to achieve a 75% waste diversion rate by the end of 2025 through programs and initiatives that will reuse, reduce, recycle, and compost 75% of the generated waste so it does not end up in a landfill. To learn more about these efforts, please visit the Sustainability page at https://sustainability.richmond.edu/index.html.
Please help us reduce our meeting’s carbon footprint by minimizing waste and correctly using the mixed or single-stream recycling bins on campus. Blue bins are for all recyclable materials, green bins are for composting materials, and black bins are for trash. While recycling is vital to our efforts, reducing and reusing is even more critical.
Thank you for your contribution.
Meeting Photography/ Videography Policy
Photography and video recording of scientific presentations using any device, are prohibited without the explicit consent of the author(s) and presenter(s).
Upon registering for the Society for Developmental Biology Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, participants agree to allow official photographers to record their participation and reproduce their likeness for marketing and informational purposes.
We invite you to share your MASDB 2025 Meeting experience by live tweeting! Please note, however, that tweeting of raw data presented at the conference and of photos of presenters' slides is prohibited without specific consent of the author. Meeting attendees may tweet generalities or publicly available information (e.g. talk titles, names of speakers, events and socials). Individuals who do not comply will be removed from the session.
Meeting hashtag: #MASDB2025