Workshop proposal deadline:

November 16, 2025 11:59pm USA Central Time (CT)

AMMP is now accepting proposals for workshops, demonstrations, round tables, and working groups for the 2026 Annual Meeting. By sharing your knowledge of materials and methods in the preparation and conservation of specimens and associated data, we can improve the entire field of paleontological preparation. Workshop content should align with the Essential Competencies. Proposals that fall outside peer-reviewed best practices can be rejected. All proposals will be reviewed by the Workshops Subcommittee with oversight by the Board.

Workshops will be offered in three levels:

• Foundational: Workshop stresses fundamental methods and materials in preparation; 

• Intermediate: Workshop involves more advanced techniques with prior experience in foundational methods and materials; 

• Advanced: This workshop assumes participants have an above average knowledge of the relevant technical information and may also present a specialty, experimental or niche method. 

Workshop Proposal Example.pdf

Workshop Formats

Four workshop formats are available:

• Traditional Hands-on Workshops are highly interactive and provide extensive hands-on experiences for participants. This is an especially valuable format to introduce new methods or materials to the group or to review and practice the details or refinements of basic techniques and materials. This format is especially useful for introducing new methods and materials or to review, practice, or refine basic techniques.Typically, these workshops will only be offered to in-person attendees.

• Demonstrations are presentations by the session leader(s) focusing on a technique or material in preparation but with little or no hands-on activities for the participants. Demonstrations can include pre-recorded audio/visual supplements. The demonstration format allows more time to cover a topic in depth than is available in a platform presentation. Rather than following a formal lecture format, leaders should encourage questions and sharing throughout the demonstration. Demonstrations will be available virtually with workshop leader Q&A time held during the meeting.

• Round Tables include group discussions of specific topics and common problems encountered within the field of preparation. The goal of this format is to achieve a solution or consensus based upon shared experience of members of the group for the benefit of all preparators. 

• Working Groups can create standardized documents (ethics guidelines, destructive sampling guidelines, lab protocols, collections use protocols, etc.) that can be widely shared on the AMMP website. The task of a Working Group may extend beyond the Annual Meeting.

Please note: The Workshop Subcommittee and AMMP Board reserve the right to reject any proposal that does not meet AMMP standards of best practices in preparation and conservation and/or does not depict and utilize correct health and safety materials and practices. For more information on best practices, please see the Preparator Core Competencies.