It’s a bit complicated as this is actually a two-in-one deal. The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is holding an annual meeting in Portland, Oregon which runs Aug. 5 – 10, 2012. This meeting overlaps with the Conference on Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR) which runs from Aug. 4 – 5, 2012. Both meeting and conference are being organized through Cornell University (US). Organizers believe that many participants will want to attend both conferences.

John Ohab in his Feb. 15, 2012 posting on the SciStarter blog notes this,

A Conference on Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR) will be held in Portland, Oregon on August 4th and 5th, 2012. This landmark event will convene science researchers, project leaders, educators, technology specialists, evaluators, and others from across many disciplines (including astronomy, molecular biology, human and environmental health, and ecology) to discuss advancing the field of PPSR.

I have written about PPSR before but used the term ‘citizen science’. From the Citizen Science Central on Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology website,

With the rapid growth and innovation of public participation in scientific research (PPSR), practitioners are in need of a venue for sharing insights across projects and fields of study. This landmark event will convene science researchers, project leaders, educators, technology specialists, evaluators, and others from across many disciplines (including astronomy, molecular biology, human and environmental health, and ecology) to discuss advancing the field of PPSR. The PPSR Conference is being held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), a venue that has long been supportive of citizen science and that always welcomes practitioners from diverse fields. We hope that all who are interested in the future of the field of PPSR will join us this August!

There is currently a call for papers for the ESA meeting, deadline Feb. 23, 2012. Organizers have yet to open a call for the PPSR conference.