Hymathon 2024 will be held online 5-6 December.
Get your showdown ideas ready, your presentations prepared and your coffee stocked up, because Hymathon will be back bigger and better than ever in 2024.
If you’re interested in helping out with the organisation of the meeting, please let any of the executive committee know! We’re always open to new ideas or events during Hymathon. Please advertise this event widely, in particular among hymenopterists who may not be ISH members yet. Note that ISH membership is required to attend and present at #Hymathon2024.
Hymathon takes place over 24 hours, so wherever you are you can opt to join sessions in the middle of your day or the middle of your night – or indeed both! This year we again have four sessions (exact starting times to be confirmed (TBC))
| Session 1 | 05/12/2024 starting at ~17:00 UTC (TBC) | Hosted by Jessica Awad |
| Session 2 | 06/12/2024 starting at ~00:00 UTC (TBC) | Hosted by Miles Zhang |
| Session 3 | 06/12/2024 starting at ~05:00 UTC (TBC) | Hosted by Zoltán László |
| Session 4 | 06/12/2024 starting at ~11:00 UTC (TBC) | Hosted by Cristina Vasilița & Manuela Sann |
The 2024 ISH Business Meeting will also be held during Hymathon (exact time to be confirmed) and we have a few ideas for a new social event!
Program
Coming soon!
Scientific talks
All ISH members are invited to present during #Hymathon2024, and we particularly encourage students, early career members and researchers from a diverse range of countries to present.
We welcome presentations on all aspects of Hymenoptera: behaviour, biology, systematics,
biological control, evolution and more! We invite both regular talks (15 minutes including questions) and short talks (5 minutes): the latter could cover any topic of interest to hymenopterists including field trip stories, amazing specimens, new methods for field, lab or collection work etc.
Presenters are limited to one talk (either 5 or 15 minutes) per person, plus are welcome to also participate in The Hymenoptera Showdown and art competition.
Note that while Hymathon is a live event we can accommodate a few pre-recorded talks if needed – please get in touch to discuss this if you are not able to give a live presentation.
Deadline to register a talk is 5 November
Keynote talks
Session 1: John Heraty, University of California Riverside
A Passion for Parasitoids – 45 Years of Chasing Eucharitid Wasps
Session 4: Tamara Spasojevic, Natural History Museum in Vienna
Evolving perspectives in Hymenoptera systematics
Information on keynotes for Sessions 2 and 3 coming soon!
Hymenoptera Showdown
Refereed in 2024 by Erinn Fagan-Jeffries
A brand new addition last year in #Hymathon2023, the Hymenoptera Showdown is back in 2024! The showdown is an opportunity to tell all ISH members why your group is the best (or at least the best loved…) – in three minutes and three slides.
GET READY TO RUMBLE!!
Do you think that your study group is the best in the entire Hymenoptera order? Is there one taxon so amazing you want to tell everyone about it? Then it is your time to shine and embrace some friendly showdown!
Here are the rules:
Participants will have 3 minutes to demonstrate why their group is the best in the entire Hymenoptera, backing up that assertion with a mix of fun, cool and scientific facts; presentations will be 3 slides maximum. Anything can be used: beautiful images of specimens, amazing biological traits, astonishing species diversity, a unique distribution, body size, fossil record, cool names, importance, society recognition… the sky is the limit to brag about your group!
Taxa can be chosen at any level (from suborder to species); depending on the number of participants some categories may be established, for example, entries at family level or higher versus entries at genus level or lower, to guarantee fair comparisons and competition.
The winners will be selected by popular vote and will win glory to boast about their group to the entire Hymenoptera society!
Note: In 2024, presentations are encouraged to be pre-recorded so that they are available to view throughout Hymathon.
See the 2023 entries here for inspiration (you must be logged into the website to view the page)
Art competition
Run by Cristina Vasilița
All ISH members are invited to take part!
We bring the Art Competition back with five exciting categories (see below) for Photography & Illustrations. Submit your work and share your unique vision! The competition is open to current ISH members only and will be judged by Hymathon attendants through online voting. The winning entries will be featured in the next issue of Hamuli.
Deadline to submit an entry is 22 November 18:00 UTC.
For questions and additional information please email Cristina ( cristina.vasilita [at] smns-bw.de).
Images can be entered in the following categories:
• Photography – Specimen :Specimen images of Hymenoptera.
• Photography – Live Hymenoptera :Live Hymenoptera images photographed in the field or in the indoor studio.
• Photography – Hymenopterists in action :Field work pictures, humorous or intriguing pictures of hymenopterists at work.
• Illustration – Scientific illustrations: Detailed and accurate drawings that represent the morphology and anatomy of Hymenoptera. These illustrations should be designed to provide a clear understanding of the species, highlighting specific features that may be of scientific interest, and can be used in research papers, taxonomic keys, or educational materials.
• Illustration – Fun & Artsy Hymenoptera/Hymenopterists: Creative and imaginative artworks that showcase Hymenoptera or Hymenopterists in a playful, artistic, or unconventional manner. These can be abstract interpretations, cartoons, or any other artistic renditions that bring out the fun and whimsical side of Hymenoptera and their researchers.
Student presentation prizes
There are student prizes for best standard-length talk in each session, and a prize for the best speed talk throughout all of Hymathon. Students are judged on scientific content and presentation. See here for the scorecard used for the 15 minute talks and here for the scorecard used for 5 minute talks.
#Hymathon2024 Organising Committee