After four years of waiting thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, we can’t wait to finally welcome SETACers to the Lone Star state! As you may know by now, the SETAC North America 45th Annual Meeting will be held a few weeks earlier than usual from 20–24 October, in Fort Worth, Texas.

We will feature more of our robust scientific program over the coming months, but there are a few highlights of our broad and exciting program worth noting now. We plan on having sessions on diverse topics to provide opportunities for all of the great research that isn’t solely focused on the “it” chemical of the day. We know the world is changing, from the products and energy we use to the way we do ecotoxicity testing and measure chemicals, and these changes are all incorporated into our program. We recognize that modernizing chemicals management is an increasing priority for government regulators, and we will feature sessions on all aspects of chemicals management: new approach methods, persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity (PBT) assessment, and risk assessment for complex substances or unknown and variable composition biological (UVCB) substances. We see the increasing intersection agriculture has in our world for food security, climate solutions and energy, so we have sessions included to support this nexus. We are planning three different sessions covering the meeting theme, “Biodiversity – It’s ‘Worth’ Saving.” There are also numerous special sessions focused on topics of regional interest, including the Gulf of Mexico or the Trinity River, as well as a session on emerging environmental issues facing our closest neighbors in Latin America.