FAQ 2026 | NAAEE Conference

General Conference & Research Symposium

When and where will the 2026 Conference and Research Symposium be held?

The 55th Annual NAAEE Conference and 23rd Annual Research Symposium will be held in Portland, Oregon, from October 6–9, 2026, at the Hilton Portland Downtown.
The Research Symposium will be held on Tuesday, October 6, and Wednesday, October 7.
The Annual Conference will begin at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, October 6, and run through Friday afternoon, October 9.
New this year: the second day of the research symposium and the first day of the conference will overlap, giving all participants access to a wider variety of sessions.
Optional pre-conference workshops will be held on Tuesday, October 6. Workshops require an additional registration fee.

What's the difference between the Conference and the Research Symposium?

For more than five decades, NAAEE has convened one of the leading annual conferences for environmental education professionals, designed to promote innovation, networking, learning, and dissemination of best practices across the field.
The annual Research Symposium, held in advance of the conference, attracts new and established researchers to examine in-progress EE research, explore the current state and future directions of environmental education research, and advance the use of practices proven to be effective.
Concurrent sessions for the Annual Conference and Research Symposium are selected through independent review processes with different criteria. Each respective Call for Presentations includes details about this year's priority topics, session formats, and tips for submitting proposals.
Each event has a separate registration fee.
New this year: the second day of the research symposium and the first day of the conference will overlap, giving all participants access to a wider variety of sessions.

What does the conference cost?

Registration rates will not be finalized until registration opens, which is anticipated around mid-June.
NAAEE has not yet finalized fees, and these figures are estimates.
- We expect full conference registration to be about $580 for NAAEE members, $735 for nonmembers, and $400 for students and retirees.
- We expect full research symposium registration to be about $350 for NAAEE members, $420 for nonmembers, and $225 for students and retirees.
We will offer discounts for early bird registration by August 21 and for those who register at full rates for both the research symposium and the conference.
We are actively fundraising so we can provide scholarships and additional discounts for those with limited funding.

What’s on the program?

We select sessions through a rigorous review process that takes several months to complete. We will post a preliminary program in mid- to late July.
In the meantime, please refer to the 2025 schedule of sessions to get a general sense for the NAAEE conference and research symposium programs.

Can I attend or present virtually?

The 2026 conference will take place in Portland, Oregon; there is no virtual component. All sessions will be presented live and in person.
NAAEE alternates between in-person and virtual conferences; our 2027 conference will be entirely online.

Presenter Information

Once the Call for Presentations opens, how do I submit a proposal for the Annual Conference or Research Symposium program?

The Call for Presentations opens on February 2 and closes on April 20, 2026.
The requirements for the Annual Conference and the Research Symposium differ and are explained in separate Calls for Presentations. Both are available for review or download.
All proposals must be submitted online through the All Academic submission system. You can find links to access All Academic on the conference home page.
Detailed instructions for submitting proposals are available here.
The Call for Presentations includes detailed information on this year’s session formats, priority topics, and review criteria. Successful proposals will reflect these guidelines.
To help maximize the number and variety of presenters and perspectives on the program, each individual or team is limited to three proposal submissions for the conference or research symposium.

When will I be notified if my presentation is accepted?

The review process begins in April, and we expect to notify all individuals of the review results in mid- to late July.
Notifications are sent through the All Academic conference management system. This email comes from <Do_Not_Reply@AllAcademic.com>. Sensitive filters sometimes reject this address; check your email settings to ensure these important messages are not filtered out as spam.
Notifications are also stored in each presenter’s message center in All Academic and can be accessed by logging in to your All Academic account.

Will you tell me if my proposal is rejected?

Yes, we notify all submitters of the review process results.

Where can I review the session formats, and what’s the difference between them?

Session formats for both the conference and research symposium vary in length and presentation style.
Session formats are described in the Call for Presentations for the conference and research symposium.
Two shorter formats—conference bright spots (10 minutes) and research symposium research presentations (15 minutes)—are categorized as "Individual Submissions" and are combined with other individual submissions to create full 40-minute sessions. All other formats are categorized as "Session Submissions" and are presented as full sessions.

What do I need to know about poster presentations?

Posters are printed two-dimensional presentations that summarize programs, resources, research studies, or other work through text, images, and data. They are usually created using Adobe InDesign or Illustrator, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft PowerPoint, Canva, and similar applications.
Posters may be up to 36 inches high and 48 inches wide. Most universities offer templates that can be downloaded and edited.
Posters are displayed on portable bulletin boards for attendees to review at leisure throughout the events in Portland.
Both the research symposium and conference have a scheduled poster session when presenters are able to stand beside their posters and interact with attendees.

Information About Our 2025 Conference

Can I get a certificate of attendance for the 2025 conference and research symposium? Will it also provide continuing education credits for the specific sessions I’ve attended?

You can issue your own certificates of attendance for the overall conference and research symposium. Log in on PheedLoop, and go to the bottom right corner of your account page. (You can access your account page from the navigation menu on the left.) The deadline for accessing PheedLoop is January 31, 2026.
If you would like a certificate verifying every session you attended, please write to conference@naaee.org with the list of all the sessions you attended, including the title, date (if applicable), and credit value. We will then verify your attendance and send a certification of your credits. Note that each session page lists a credit value; these credits are based on hours—one hour equals one credit.

Can I sign up to watch recordings of all the 2025 Annual Conference and Research Symposium sessions?

Yes!

Post-event registration is available and allows access to both the prerecorded sessions and recordings of the live sessions, including the keynotes, on the PheedLoop platform through January 31, 2026.

Registration does not include pre-conference workshops, which were not recorded and are no longer available.

The conference and the research symposium require separate registration.

Post-Conference Registration Rates:
Annual Conference: $50
Research Symposium: $30

Can I see a list of the 2025 sessions?

Yes, you can review the list of sessions on the All Academic platform.
Use the Browse/Search the Program to narrow your choices.
All on-demand sessions are listed on October 6, the date they originally became available for viewing.
All live Research Symposium sessions are listed on October 30.
All live Annual Conference sessions are listed on November 3 through November 6.