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Abstract While there is a diversity of approaches for modeling phytoplankton blooms, their accuracy in predicting the onset and manifestation of a bloom is still lagging behind what is needed to support effective management. We outline a framework that integrates trait theory and ecosystem modeling to improve bloom prediction. This framework builds on the concept that the phenology of blooms is determined by the dynamic interaction between the environment and traits within the phytoplankton community. Phytoplankton groups exhibit a collection of traits that govern the interplay of processes that ultimately control the phases of bloom initiation, maintenance, and collapse. An example of process‐trait mapping is used to demonstrate a more consistent approach to bloom model parameterization that allows better alignment with models and laboratory‐ and ecosystem‐scale datasets. Further approaches linking statistical‐mechanistic models to trait parameter databases are discussed as a way to help optimize models to better simulate bloom phenology and allow them to support a wider range of management needs. 

Abstract For many, 2020 was a year of abrupt professional and personal change. For the aquatic sciences community, many were adapting to virtual formats for conducting and sharing science, while simultaneously learning to live in a socially distanced world. Understandably, the aquatic sciences community postponed or canceled most in‐person scientific meetings. Still, many scientific communities either transitioned annual meetings to a virtual format or inaugurated new virtual meetings. Fortunately, increased use of video conferencing platforms, networking and communication applications, and a general comfort with conducting science virtually helped bring the in‐person meeting experience to scientists worldwide. Yet, the transition to conducting science virtually revealed new barriers to participation whereas others were lowered. The combined lessons learned from organizing a meeting constitute a necessary knowledge base that will prove useful, as virtual conferences are likely to continue in some form. To concentrate and synthesize these experiences, we showcase how six scientific societies and communities planned, organized, and conducted virtual meetings in 2020. With this consolidated information in hand, we look forward to a future, where scientific meetings embrace a virtual component, so to as help make science more inclusive and global.