The 8th annual Ohio (River) Valley Unified Malacologists (OVUM) meeting was convened by Dr. Yurena Yanes and held at the Department of Geology of the University of Cincinnati on Saturday, September 27, 2014. We convened at 9:00 AM.

This one-day meeting was free and open to professionals, amateurs, and students who are interested in any aspect of Molluscan Biology, Paleontology, Biogeochemistry and Conservation. This was an excellent opportunity for students to practice their oral skills and discuss their results in an informal, friendly venue. OVUM had no dues, officers, abstract requirements, or publications. Participants prepared a fifteen-minute oral presentation (12 minutes of presentation and 3 minutes of Q&A) covering any topic related to mollusks.

A total of 15 people attended including professionals, students and amateurs. The eight presentations covered gastropods, bivalves, polyplacophorans, modern and fossil mollusks from marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms, as well as shell collection management.

The 9th OVUM meeting will be convened by Tim Pearce at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburg, PA)