2026 SSB Breakout Meeting
Jan. 9-11, 2026
Baton Rouge, LA
The Importance of Natural History Collections
Program Overview
Jan. 9th (Fri)
- Workshops and Small Group Meetings (Hilton Hotel)
- Biodiversity Trivia Night (Somewhere Neighborhood Bar)
Jan. 10th (Sat)
- Lightning Talks, Panels, Plenaries (Manship Theatre)
- Evening Social (LSU Museum of Natural Science)
Jan. 11th (Sun)
- Lightning Talks, Panels, Plenaries (Manship Theatre)
Contributed Talks
All contributed talks will be lightning talks (5 min, including questions).
Slides for all lightning talks need to be submitted to the meeting organizers no later than Jan. 5th!
Keynote Speaker: Emily Graslie
Science Storytelling in Natural History Museums
Emily Graslie is an artist, science communicator and writer, video host, and educational media producer. From 2013 - 2020 she worked as the first-ever ‘Chief Curiosity Correspondent’ for the Field Museum in Chicago, creating more than 200 episodes for The Brain Scoop, a natural history-themed YouTube channel. In 2020, she created and premiered on PBS in "Prehistoric Road Trip," an original three-part series that explores the paleontology and natural history of the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming. Today, she continues to create videos for The Brain Scoop as an independent producer in partnership with scientists, nature centers, and museums around the country.
Confirmed Panels
The Future of Natural History Collections
Chaired by Corrie Moreau
Creating Meaningful Collaborations Across Communities and Natural History Collections
Presented by the SSB DEIC
Confirmed Workshops and Activities
A Primer on Phylogenomics Workshop
Led by Edgardo Ortiz
Organized by the SSB Graduate Student and Postdoc (GraSP) Committee
Open Tree of Life Workshop
Led by Emily Jane McTavish and Mark Holder
Rev the Bayes and Q the Matrix Workshop
(aka Discrete Character Evolution in RevBayes)
Led by Rosana Zenil-Ferguson
A Primer for Phylogenetic Causal Inference Workshop
Led by Orlando Schwery and Josef Uyeda
NSF Program Officer Meet and Greet
Led by April Wright and Lauren Esposito
FishPhyloMaker: A Supertree Tool for Ray-Finned Fishes
Led by Bruno Soares
Generalized Bayesian Phylogenetics to Infer Simultaneous and Multifurcating Divergences
Led by Jamie Oaks
From VCF to Population Genomic Inference
Led by Peter Beerli
SSB Council Check-in
Led by Tracy Heath and Elizabeth Jockusch
LSU Museum of Natural Science Tours
Led by Nick Mason
LSU Herbarium Tours
Led by Laura Lagomarsino
Systematic Biology Editor Meet and Greet
Led by Bob Thomson
Accommodations
A limited block of hotel rooms at a reduced rate has been reserved at the Hilton Capitol Center for SSB meeting attendees.
Reserve your room today!Registration
Registration for SSB 2026 is currently closed, because we have reached our cap of 200 attendees. To be added to the waitlist, please email Jeremy Brown
All registrants must be members of SSB. To join SSB, renew your membership, or check on your membership status, please visit the SSB website.
Meeting attendance is capped at 200 people.
Early bird meeting registration fees are $75 for student & postdoc members of SSB and $175 for professional SSB members.
SSB Early Career Travel Funds
The SSB DEIC offers funds for early career researchers to travel to meetings. The goal of these funds is to fully support the participation of early career SSB members at regional, national, and international SSB conferences. Applicable costs include registration, lodging, travel, and visa acquisition (if applicable). A call is currently open for applications to receive funding for the 2026 SSB breakout meeting.
Learn more and apply