We are excited to continue sharing learning opportunities with you. A weekly conference is not enough, so we will be hosting another Two Day Virtual Mid-Year Conference in November 2026!
Call for Abstracts, Dates, and Pricing are below.
The conference theme is: Celebrating Our Global Connections Through Behavior
Virtual Conference Dates: 4-5 November 2026.
Conference replay will be in Whova for one week, then approved presentations will be available on animalprofessional.com (one year access for ABMA non-member conference attendees).
Pricing:
Member rate- $150
Non-member rate- $250
Facility rate (4 logins)- $550*
Facility rate (6 logins)- $800*
Registration will be Open 1 Aug - 28 Oct!
*Facility Registrations, please ensure you include 4 or 6 different emails when you register so we can set up each registrant correctly in Whova to access to the conference.
Abstract Submission Timeline:
Accepting submissions- until 20 June 3:00pm EST/12:00pm PST
Presenters notified- 1 August
Presenters accept/deny- by 8 August
Presentations due- 16 September
Keynote Speaker:
We are pleased to announce that Susan Friedman will be the keynote speaker for the 2nd annual Virtual Midyear Confernece! Invited Speakers:
Bianca Papadopoulos
Bianca has always had a passion for animals, and it was her dream from a young age to become an animal trainer. Bianca started her career in 2005 working with elephants and seals at Melbourne Zoo, Australia. Since then, Bianca has worked with a wide range of different species across all taxa at several facilities in Australia and in the US. In 2017, Bianca was appointed as the inaugural Animal Behaviour Coordinator at the Melbourne Zoo, where she manages the animal training programs for all species and helps coach and upskill the keepers in this space. The programs are designed to allow the animals the opportunity to be active participants in their own health care and improve their welfare. In 2015, she was successful in acquiring an international fellowship through the International Specialised Skills Institute to investigate world leading animal training applications and programs in a zoo setting. Through the fellowship she was able to attend animal training and behaviour workshops, courses and conferences worldwide. During the fellowship, it directed her down the path of the science of behaviour change. Bianca works hard on continuing her learning journey and disseminating her learnings to help build skills to not only her direct colleagues but also to the broader zoo community in the Australasian region. Bianca is one of Behavior Works zoo consultants, chairs the ASZK Animal Training Community subcommittee and sits on the ZAA Standards and Accreditation committee.
Bianca's presentation for the virtual conference is Don’t Guess. Assess. Taking a Functional Approach to Behaviour Challenges.
Kristina Bartley
Kristina is the President and Founder of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Enrichment (AALAE), the first organization within the biomedical industry dedicated to enrichment and behavior management at this scale. Since establishing AALAE in 2021, Kristina has built a professional home for the laboratory animal community centered on educational resources, discussions, and open dialogue, offering a virtual enrichment club, quarterly webinars, workshops, symposiums, and an enrichment database to enhance the psychological well-being of lab animals.
Kristina is also the Director of the Behavior Management and Psychological Enrichment Program for the Center for Comparative Medicine and Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, New York, where she spearheads a team developing and executing innovative enrichment and behavior management strategies for various species, with a specific focus on nonhuman primates. In addition to her work with AALAE and Mount Sinai, she serves as co-chair for the Environmental Enrichment Exchange Webinar Series and as a committee member of the APV/American Society of Primatologists working group promoting bi-organizational collaborative initiatives.
Kristina is also an Adjunct Professor at Delaware Valley University and Drexel University, where she teaches laboratory animal behavior and small animal handling techniques to undergraduate students. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Animal Science from the University of Maryland, a Master's in Laboratory Animal Science from Drexel University, and a certification in Laboratory Animal Behavior from the Animal Behavior Institute. She has authored several publications on social housing and enrichment techniques and has delivered over 30 talks at conferences including Quad, Tribranch, National AALAS, the Northwest Association for Biomedical Research, and APV, focusing on enrichment and behavior management innovations.
Conference Schedule:
Details coming soon!
Plan to Virtual Happy Hour with us each night after the conference, starting at 6pm Pacific.
Where do you watch the virtual conference?
Do you need CEU's? We have those available for attending the virtual conference!
For CCPDT: coming soon
For IAABC: coming soon
For IATCB: coming soon
Questions? Contact us- virtualvp@theabma.org
