2019 - Seattle, WA

District 8 AALAS was held April 25 & 26, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Seattle in Seattle, Washington for our 2019 District 8 AALAS Meeting! Located in the heart of downtown Seattle, Hyatt Regency Seattle is within a mile of Seattle’s must-see attractions, including the SpaceNeedle, Chihuly Garden & Glass, Pike Place Market, and more.

Print and Post flyer: to promote the meeting at your institution              

The 2019 District 8 meeting will be hosted by the Washington, Oregon, and Northern Rocky Mountain Branches of AALAS. This multi-day conference will feature speaker presentations, poster sessions, and workshops designed to help educate and bring new ideas to those in the laboratory animal field. Attendees will also have the opportunity to visit the Exhibit hall to talk to vendors about new and upcoming products in the lab animal field.

Hotel Information: To make reservations for your stay at the Hyatt Regency Hotel using the AALAS District 8 Meeting group rate!, visit: https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/SEARS/G-FRED  

Transportation options from airport to the Hyatt - Though the Hyatt does not offer shuttle service from Sea-Tac, there are several options for getting to the hotel: The Link Light Rail runs from the airport to the Westlake station which is just a couple blocks from the hotel. (Cost is less than $5 each way) or there is also Uber, Lyft (Cost $30-40) and regular taxi service (Cost $50) available - perhaps you can find someone else to share the cost to the Hyatt

REGISTER TODAY for the District 8 Meeting: https://www.123signup.com/event?id=rqmbk - Registration is open and we'd love for you to join us April 25th and 26th. 

Online Registration for Exhibitor Booths is now closed.  Please contactJabbott@medline.com to inquire about purchasing a booth.  Online registration is still open for guests of those already registered.

Unable to attend the meeting but want to be a sponsor? Sponsorship opportunities are available online, visit https://www.123signup.com/event?id=hkjgn for information and to register.

Here’s just a sample of what's in store for you at this year’s District 8 meeting in Seattle!

Keynote speaker: Dr. Melween Martinez, Director of the Caribbean Primate Research Center in Puerto Rico: Disaster Recovery Efforts after Hurricane Maria

You will not want to miss our keynote speaker, Dr. Melween Martinez! Dr. Martinez is the Director of the Caribbean Primate Research Center in Puerto Rico and she will share with us many of the challenges that occurred from hurricane Maria, September of 2017. I don’t want to give away anything that Dr. Martinez wants to share with us, but I have been reading about the Cayo Santiago Field Station and have found out some amazing tidbits! By the way, the station continues to do research despite the devastation.

It all began in 1938 when a primatologist, Clarence Carpenter, brought 400 macaques to Cayo Santiago, “Monkey Island” in 1938 by ship. It took two months. He was the sole caretaker of these monkeys until they reached San Juan! Can you imagine? That’s a lot of monkey poop! Even back then, all these macaques were ID’d and their pedigrees were known. It’s an amazing story! Google it for more information.

Caretakers from Punta Santiago commute to work by boat every day to provide the monkeys with food. Water is provided by collecting rainwater and distributed through a watering system. After Hurricane Maria, all 1700 macaques were alive and well, however, there is still a lot of work to be done to restore the infrastructure on the island.

If this is something that has peeked your interest, make sure you get registered, and come prepared to hear more about Monkey Island and Dr. Melween Martinez’ career!

Featured Speaker: Ann Turner, Executive Director AALAS:History and Globalization of AALAS

With over 40 years of experience in association management, health care administration, and education, Dr. Ann Turner has served her communities in various manners. She is currently the executive director of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) in Memphis, Tn. Dr. Turner earned a bachelor’s degree in Home Economics from the University of Tennessee, a Masters of Education in Child Development and Family Relations from Pennsylvania State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Community Systems Planning and Development also from Penn State.  Dr. Turner has been a Certified Association Executive (CAE) since 1989 and was awarded Fellow status in the American Society of Association Executives in 2006. She served on the Board of Directors for ASAE and the ASAE Foundation 2011 - 2013. Ann is a member of the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center IACUC.

Preliminary program:

You won't want to miss all the other interesting presentations and posters too.  Posters will be displayed in the hall - attendees are encouraged to visit while the authors are present at their posters to ask questions.

The exhibit hall will feature snacks and refreshments. Attendees will have several chances to view the exhibit hall during breakfast, breaks, and between speaker sessions.

Exhibitor Registration: 

Online Registration for Exhibitor Booths is now closed.  Please contactJabbott@medline.com to inquire about purchasing a booth.  Online registration is still open for guests of those already registered.

Sponsorship Opportunities:

Unable to attend the meeting but want to be a sponsor? Sponsorship opportunities are available online, visit https://www.123signup.com/event?id=hkjgn for information and to register.