Past Conferences
2026 Sharks International | Colombo, Sri Lanka
Following the 20th anniversary conference, OCS instead opted to fund travel for 12 students to Sharks International in Colombo, from May 3-6 2025.
2025 OCS 20th Anniversary | Sunshine Coast, QLD
The OCS celebrated 20 years in Sunshine Coast in 2025. Travel was funded for 16 students, and the conference was attended by over 100 people. We were able to award three prizes for talks and two for posters.
2024 OCS #7 | Geelong, Victoria
The OCS held its first in-person conference since 2018 in Geelong, Victoria from 3-5 April 2024.
A total of 14 travel awards were provided to support student attendance at this conference.
2023 IPFC/ASFB Conference | Auckland, New Zealand
The OCS was a sponsor for the 11th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference (IPFC) and Annual Conference of the Australian Society for Fish Biology held in Auckland, New Zealand from 20-24 November 2023. The OCS further provided travel awards to students to travel to the conference.
2022 OCS #6 | Virtual
The OCS provided funding for two student prizes for our first virtual conference.
2019 OCS/NZMSS Conference | Dunedin, New Zealand
The OCS provided funding for students to travel to the OCS/NZMSS conference to be held in Dunedin, New Zealand from 3-5 July 2019.
2018 OCS #5 | Moreton Bay, Queensland
The OCS held a special event conference at the Moreton Bay Research Station from 21-23 February 2018.
The Save Our Seas Foundation generously supported OCS students by providing five travel grants of AUD$500 each to help students attend the meeting to present their work. In addition, the OCS is also offered 2 grants of AUD$200 each to help students attend the pre-conference workshop on telemetry.
Our long-term sponsor Passions of Paradise once again supported prizes of $500, which was awards to the students that delivered the best oral presentation and best conference poster.
2017 Indo-Pacific Fish Conference | Tahiti
The OCS did not hold a conference in 2017, and instead encouraged members to attend the 10th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference, the region's largest ichthyology conference held once every four years. The 10th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference was held in Tahiti from 2-6 October 2017.
We offered two Travel Awards for this event to support airfare travel to Tahiti.
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One grant was to support a female student (honours, masters, or PhD) or Early Career Researcher (within five years of graduating from a postgraduate degree) to attend IPFC Session I1 Women in Marine Sciences in the Indo-Pacific.
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One grant supported a postgraduate student (honours, masters, or PhD) to attend IPFC Session D2 Indo-Pacific Predators: biology, ecology, conservation and management.
2016 OCS/ASFB Conference | Hobart, Tasmania
The OCS held a conference in conjunction with the Australian Society of Fish Biology in Hobart, Tasmania from 5-8 September 2016.
The OCS awarded travel grants funded by the Save Our Seas Foundation and Passions of Paradise to attend the conference. The OCS also awarded four prizes for outstanding student posters and presentations.
2015 OCS/NZMSS Conference | Auckland, New Zealand
The OCS held its first joint conference with the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society in Auckland, in 2015, following a year hiatus due to Sharks International 2014 in Durban, South Africa. The organising committee was led by Malcolm Francis and Deb Bowden.
2013 OCS #4 | Brisbane, Queensland
Back to Queensland again, the fourth OCS conference consisted of two days of presentations, a poster session and the AGM with Dr. Shelley Clarke as a keynote speaker. OCS 2013 was organised by Al Harry, Andrew Chin, Bonnie Holmes, Carlos Bustamante, Chris Dudgeon, Kara Yopak and Michelle Heupel. The event kicked off with welcome drinks at Royal on the Park and concluded with a conference dinner on the Kookaburra River Queen, which included a 2.5 hour cruise down the Brisbane River.
2012 OCS/ASFB Conference | Adelaide, South Australia
Our first joint conference with the Australian Society of Fish Biology was held in South Australia in 2012. This symposium component involved nine keynote speakers who have expertise in dealing with issues associated with researching movement through aquatic environments. These include our international keynote speaker, Steve Campana (Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Nova Scotia, Canada), Colin Simpfendorfer, Jenny Ovenden, and Jayson Semmens.
2011 OCS #3 | Gold Coast, Queensland
It took 5 years for the first independent OCS conference to be held in Queensland! Conference organising committee consisted of both professionals and students: Susan Theiss, Michelle Heupel, Pete Kyne, Lindsay Marshall, Bonnie Holmes and Carley Bansemer.
2010 Sharks International | Cairns, Queensland
In 2010, the OCS had its largest ever social gathering, hosting a society dinner during the Sharks International conference in Cairns in June 2010. This was an excellent opportunity for non-members to learn more about the OCS with large numbers of non-OCS members attending. During the dinner, the OCS named the first Distinguished Fellow and presented the first Lifetime Membership to Dr John Stevens (CSIRO) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Chondrichthyan research.
2009 Indo-Pacific Fish Conference | Freemantle, WA
After three back-to-back years of independent conferences, OCS chose instead to support the Chondrichthyan Symposium at the IPFC in WA, 2009. The symposium was run by then-president William White, alongside Bernard Séret, and Dave Ebert.
2008 OCS #2 | Sydney, NSW
Jessica Gwilliam, Shannon Corrigan, Charlie Huveneers, Will White and Pheobe Meagher took on the role of organising the second OCS conference, held at the Australian Museum in Sydney from 22-24 September 2008. Keynote speakers were Leonard Compagno, Gavin Naylor and Dave Ebert, and over 70 members attended the event. The Passions of Paradise student awards went to Carley Bansemer, Christopher Izzo, Ron Shroeder and Lindsay Marshall, and a further six students were given Passions of Paradise travel grants to attend the conference.
2007 OCS #1 | Queenscliff, VIC
On 22–24 October 2007, the OCS held its first scientific conference in Queenscliff,
hosted by Primary Industries Research Victoria (PIRVic) and organised by
Cynthia Awruch and Terry Walker. The conference included keynote addresses from
William White (CSIRO) and Colin Simpfendorfer (James Cook University),
32 oral presentations, a poster session, and a one day workshop at PIRVic on the
reproductive biology and age and growth of chondrichthyan fishes.
About 60 delegates attended the first OCS conference at the Vue Grand Hotel. Rui Coelho, Lorenze Frick, Lindsay Marshall and Michelle Treloar won the first Passion of Paradise student awards, while Christine Dudgeon won best student presentation and was awarded a week-long dive trip with the Undersea Explorer. Four students were given Passions of Paradise travel grants to attend the conference.
2006 The Inaugural OCS Meeting | Hobart, TAS
On 20 August 2006, the OCS organised its first official meeting at the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research laboratories in Hobart. This small and free event included presentations by invited speakers, namely John Stevens (CSIRO), Malcolm Francis (NIWA), Michelle Heupel (then MOTE Marine Laboratory) and Terry Walker (MaFRI). The inaugural OCS Annual General Meeting included the election of the OCS’s first Executive Council and committee.
