The Local Host Committee is excited to welcome you to the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in the world-famous city of New Orleans!  The JMIH conference is being held at the Sheraton in New Orleans, on the edge of the French Quarter – one of the most historical, cultural, musical, and culinary neighborhoods in North America. We on the Local Host Committee welcome you to New Orleans, and encourage you to enjoy the city, explore the culture, and stay safe!

As attendees of the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in New Orleans, we recognize that what we know as New Orleans today includes the ancestral lands of several Indigenous North American groups – including Chitimacha, Houma, and Choctaw nations. Before the arrival of European colonists, the area was known as Bulbancha (“the land of many tongues” in the Choctaw language). People of these first nations continue to live in New Orleans and the surrounding areas today, and are a visible and enduring part of our cultural landscape. As scientists, stewards of nature, visitors, and residents of New Orleans, we commit to respecting past and present Indigenous people of this land for their knowledge, stewardship, culture, and care.

French influence in New Orleans began when a French explorer named Jean-Babtiste Le Moyne de Bienville arrived in 1718 – and settled in what is now New Orleans’ French Quarter. With its strategic location on the Mississippi River (at the time the primary transportation corridor for much of North America), Bienville hoped the city would provide a strategic military presence that would secure the river for France. With French trading connections to the Caribbean, New Orleans came to be known as the “northernmost city in the Caribbean” – underlying long-standing ties to tropical people, cultures, food, and music. 

French settlers also brought with them forcibly enslaved people of African descent, either directly from across Africa or from French-colonized areas of the Caribbean. The African traditions brought by the enslaved people – like those of Native Americans – are a vital part of New Orleans’ cultural landscape. From jazz music and second lines, to the mix of religions known as Voodoo, to masking traditions of Mardi Gras itself – New Orleans is indebted to the culture of African Americans past and present. We on the local host committee respect and value the contributions of enslaved people and their descendents.

The resulting cultural mix of New Orleans – including French, Native American, African people – and others has produced a diverse city like no other on the planet. Our music, food, traditions, and festivities draw from all of these cultures – and are a testament to the strength of diversity. We welcome you to explore our historical districts, local jazz clubs, Creole and Cajun traditions, and to contribute to the cultural diversity we as the Local Host Committee deeply value. 

New Orleans’ French Quarter is full of entertainment – from a first-time visitor to a long-time resident. World-class restaurants, hotels, and bars abound. You will find a broad array of public attractions – both large (Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium, World War II Museum, Ogden Museum of Southern Art) and small (New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, The Great American Alligator Museum) either in the French Quarter or a short walk away. You will find walking tours of the French Quarter – including historical tours, ghost and vampire tours, and architecture tours – which are great ways to see the French Quarter. You will find incredible live music all throughout the French Quarter and on Frenchmen Street – or almost anywhere you go.

We hope that while in New Orleans, you come to love the culture and spirit of the city that we in the Local Host Committee call home.

Welcome,
The 2026 JMIH Local Host Committee