Chapters

ACS has eight chapters – Los Angeles, Monterey Bay, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco (CA), Puget Sound (WA), Oregon (based in Newport) – and a National Student Coalition.

Each chapter holds regular (usually monthly) meetings, featuring presentations by regional/national leaders in cetacean research, conservation, education, visual arts, and policy. Meetings are free and everyone is welcome, encouraging the exchange of ideas, information, and thought-provoking discussion among members of the scientific, policy, art, and lay communities – a unique opportunity for those communities to meet and share ideas.

Chapters feature activities specific to local interests, such as whale and dolphin census studies, whale-watch naturalist programs, endangered species conservation, advocacy campaigns, and more! Many chapters offer small grants-in-aid for cetacean-related research.

 

Los Angeles Chapter

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Participate in the longest-running gray whale census and behavior project in the world and in the ‘Whalewatch’ naturalist and lecturer training program, co-sponsored by ACS/LA and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro.

 

Monterey Bay Chapter

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ACS-Monterey Bay promotes research and explores topics relating to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, one of the world’s most biologically and geologically diverse and complex seafloors and continental margins. Witness the annual gray whale migration from one of the best locations on California’s Central Coast.


Orange County Chapter

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ACS-Orange County has monthly meetings with guest speakers. All of the meetings are free, and everyone is welcome! The chapter also has a popular, highly-regarded Naturalist program serving on boats out of Newport Beach and Dana Point. For info about upcoming meetings and/or the Naturalist program, see the chapter’s website. 


Puget Sound Chapter 

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ACS-Puget Sound maintains a focus on cetaceans and related issues in the Pacific Northwest, with a larger ecosystem approach in mind. This is reflected in our monthly meetings, educational outreach, and student research and travel grants.


San Diego Chapter

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ACS-San Diego meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the Sumner Auditorium, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Our speaker series features presentations by the best marine biologists in California and beyond. We also partner with local whale watch operators to offer exciting trips – locally, to the stunning Coronado Islands, and even to Baja California, Mexico to the calving lagoons of eastern Pacific gray whales. We hope to see you at a meeting or a trip soon!


San Francisco Chapter

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ACS-San Francisco offers a monthly speaker series with local marine mammal scientists and sponsors whale-watching trips. It has recently been reinvigorated and is seeking new board members. We would like to provide outreach to schools and other educational venues. Please contact us if you are interested in joining the Board.


Oregon Chapter 

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ACS-Oregon has members from throughout the state. Our monthly speaker series meetings are held in Newport. Our focus includes education about the diversity of Oregon’s cetaceans and promotion of whale watching in Oregon. We’ve also conducted Naturalist training since 2013.

 


Student Coalition 

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Every student should consider joining a professional society - a society that represents its members and works for the good of their chosen profession. One of the benefits of joining the ACS National Student Coalition is the ability to network and collaborate with your peers and professionals in different disciplines, backgrounds, and institutions to address the challenges that whales, dolphins, and porpoises face in today’s complex world.