How shall we meet? Embracing the opportunities of virtual conferencing

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic triggered dramatic shifts in the way that ecologists teach, research, and interact (e.g., Cooke et al. 2021). As the world now adjusts to a “new normal” era, there is notable and open discussion about the merits or desire to return to practices used prior to the pandemic (e.g., Roulson 2021). A dominant aspect of these discussions is when and how researchers can return to the practice of large, centralized, in-person conferences that have been the primary mode of professional interaction for decades. While questions of safety are naturally paramount and will guide decision making for some time, there remains the broader question of whether and how to implement virtual and hybrid formats in the future.