Spring 2004, La Crosse, Wisconsin.  

On March 4 and 5, 2004, a joint annual meeting of the Midwest and Ozark-Prairie Chapters of SETAC was held in La Crosse Wisconsin. The theme of the annual meeting was "Large River Resources, however, the late-winter picturesque view of the Mississippi River outside the conference center did not detract from two days of excellent presentations and posters. The meeting was well attended with 77 registrants coming from as far south as Oklahoma.

Thursday began with a plenary presentation by James Wiener of University of Wisconsin – LaCrosse on "Mercury contamination of North American rivers: Status and Implications for management and ecological restoration", and ended with a thoroughly enjoyable poster social in the evening. Friday began with a plenary presentation by Yue-wern Huang of University of Missouri – Rolla, on "Searching for possible causes of the population decline in Ozark hellbenders", and ended with the annual raffle, and awards for best student presentations and posters.

Student presentations and posters were judged by each chapter, and this year’s four top winners were selected from a field of many excellent student presentations and posters. The Midwest Chapter Platform winner was Te-Hao Chen of the University of Wisconsin – Madison, for his presentation entitled "Sublethal effects of lead on northern leopard frogs."  Winner of the Midwest Chapter best student poster was Tisha King Heiden of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Great Lakes Water Institute for the poster entitled "Chronic exposure to low doses of TCDD alters reproductive success of zebrafish". The Ozark-Prairie chapter also made awards for best student platform and poster papers. 

The next Midwest Chapter annual meeting will be held on April 5 - 6, 2005 in Madison, Wisconsin. If you have any questions or wish to assist in the organization of the next meeting, please contact Dawn Karner at dkarner@mail.slh.wisc.edu.