CNIDOFEST 2024

Cnidofest 2024 was a BLAST!

Cnidofest 2024: Third Biennial Cnidarian Model Systems Meeting 

Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA

August 14-17, 2024

Uploading presentations
You can upload Oral presentations either using a flash drive or by adding your talk directly to the folder for your session in Dropbox. For session talks please upload here. Lightning talks please upload your slide here.  If you use a thumb drive please upload your talks as soon as possible, and check your slides before your session. When you arrive, we can point you to the technical support staff.  

Looking to share a ride to Bethlehem, PA from one of the local airports?
Feel free to use this Googlesheet to find others that would like to share a ride.

Map, driving directions, and parking information

Map of Location (left): The meeting is in Zoellner Arts Center on the Lehigh campus in Baker Hall Auditorium. The poster session will be in the adjacent Butz Lobby. The PDF attachment shows directions from Comfort Inn Suites. 

Parking: 

Zoellner Arts Center is within walking distance to the Comfort Suites (0.7 miles). If you require ADA parking accommodations, please see below.


Zoellner Garage - 1st floor ONLY -  if you go past the first floor gate, you will receive a ticket/fine from Lehigh, as floors 2+ are for permit holders only. Spaces are first come, first serve in the Zoellner Garage.


Please download the Passport Parking App to pay for your parking spot in the Zoellner garage.Street parking - available on E. Packer Ave - Please download the ParkMobile App to pay for your street parking spot. 


T-shirts

 T-shirts are available for purchase at the conference. They are 20 dollars each and you can pay by cash (exact change please), venmo, or paypal.  

Cnidofest 2024 - Program now available!

Cnidofest 2024 - Travel Grants

NSF has awarded the organizers of Cnidofest a small amount of money to help defray the cost of travel for conference goers. To be eligible for these funds, the traveler must be associated with a US institution. If you wish to apply for a small travel award, please follow the link below and fill out the survey.  

Travel grant applications due: now closed.

Cnidofest 2024 - Abstract Submission

Formatting Notes:

- NO email addresses, phone numbers, hyperlinks, keyword lists, comments, text or image boxes.

- Paragraph breaks between Title, Author(s) & Institute, abstract body, and funding

- File must be saved as Rich Text File format (RTF)

- Name your file with the last name of the PRESENTING author. Example: Steele.rtf

- 200 word count for abstract body (i.e. excluding title, authors, affiliations, and funding)

- Arial, 11 point, black font

- 1.5 line spacing, one inch margins, left justified


Thank you for your abstracts.

Registration Information

A)       If you are a member of the Society of Developmental Biology, please email Mike Layden with your SDB number at layden@lehigh.edu. We have a limited number of vouchers from SDB available on a first come first serve basis for $100 off registration. Upon confirming your membership is up to date, we will send you a separate registration link for the discounted rate. It is not possible to retroactively apply the discount.

B)       The Company Of Biologists has also generously provided resources to waive the registration fee for 7-9 trainees (students and postdocs). There is a short application due 14 June 2024 available at the following link. If applying for The Company Of Biologists award, please wait to register until after the award decisions have been made. 

Registration is now closed.

Program Information - Key Dates

Travel Information

Air travel to Lehigh

Lehigh University is in Bethlehem, PA, in the Lehigh Valley. We recommend flying into Allentown Airport (ABE) as a top choice and Newark (EWR) as a second choice. However, there are four airports that service the area. In order of proximity, they are: Allentown Airport (ABE) – 14 miles from campus; Newark Airport (EWR) – 73 Miles from campus and has a connecting EWR-Bethlehem bus that travels to multiple stops in the Lehigh valley. Philadelphia Airport (PHL) – 77 miles away; and JFK in New York – 104 Miles from campus. JFK also has a connecting JFK-Bethlehem bus line, but it has a limited schedule only running twice a day. Each airport has other transportation and options as well.

When choosing flights, please keep in mind your arrival time, as EWR is typically about an hour to Bethlehem, and JFK and PHL are approximately 1.5-2 hours depending on time of day. 

Lodging

Our suggestion is to book Comfort Suites using the link below, which expires July 28th. This hotel is at the edge of the Lehigh campus and is easily walkable to the conference site, and near restaurants and bars.

Here are the instructions and the link for Comfort Suites:

Comfort Suites (0.7 miles) has 89 rooms blocked off for our conference that are first come first serve. To reserve a room follow this link

Location: 120 W Third St., Bethlehem PA 18015 

Phone: +1 (484) 379-0827

https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/jr63k5?checkInDate=2024-08-14&checkOutDate=2024-08-18&ratePlanCode=BZHUWD

You can also call and use the following information to get the conference rate.


Group Name:

Cnidofest Conference 2024


Group Number:

JR63K5



Other hotels nearby: 

Walkable:

The Sayre Mansion – (0.9 miles) Phone: +1 610-882-2100; Address:  250 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem PA 18015

The Wilbur Mansion – (0.9 miles) Phone: +1 610 419-1101; Address:  201 Cherokee St., Bethlehem PA 18015

Wind Creek Bethlehem – (0.9 miles) Phone: +1 484 777-7777; Address:  77 Wind Creek Blvd, Bethlehem PA 18105

Less Walkable:

Hotel Bethlehem – (1.4 miles) Phone: +1 855-264-2598; Address: 437 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 18018

Hyatt Place Bethlehem – (1.6 miles) Phone:+1 855-516-1090) 45 West North St., Bethlehem, PA 18018

Candlewood Suites – (1.6 miles) Phone: +1 610-849-4100; Address:  1630 Spillman Dr. Bethlehem, PA 18015



 Questions?
Email the cnidofest planning committee: cnidofestmtg@gmail.com