Categorized | Environment

Wildlife Society conference in Waikoloa (Nov 5-10)

The Maryland-based Wildlife Society is gearing up for its annual conference on the Big Island. More than 1,500 wildlife professionals are expected for the six-day conference at the Hilton Waikoloa Village.

This is the message president Tom Ryder issued when announcing the conference:

Aloha!

On behalf of The Wildlife Society, I’d like to invite you to join us at Hilton Waikoloa Village for our 18th Annual Conference, where wildlife professionals from across North America will participate in one of the most significant wildlife conferences that TWS has ever assembled.

As home to some of the greatest plant and animal biodiversity on the planet, Hawaii offers the perfect venue for the serious business of the Society’s Annual Conference, now the largest single gathering of wildlife professionals in North America.

Perhaps more than any other state, Hawaii spotlights the most-pressing challenges that natural resource managers and conservationists face today — including the rapid spread of invasive species and the impacts of a changing climate.

Such challenges require collaboration, which is why our Plenary Session will focus on ways in which natural-resource agencies can work with a variety of public and private groups to more-effectively conserve North America’s unparalleled wildlife resources.

In addition, because tackling the challenge of invasive species is so critical to TWS’ mission, we have added a second general session specifically to address the issue of invasives.

Beyond these two large sessions, we’ll offer a wide variety of technical sessions, symposia, and workshops designed to enhance your professional knowledge. These working groups provide a forum where you and other professionals can share your expertise, explore the latest research, and discuss techniques and solutions that you can take home and apply in your own work.

Networking with other wildlife professionals — formally or informally — is one of the greatest benefits of the Annual Conference, so we offer ample opportunities to meet with colleagues.

To kick off the Conference we invite you to join us at the “Welcome to Hawaii” reception, a traditional Hawaiian luau. During the week, field trips, Working Group meetings, and evening receptions will allow you to catch up with colleagues and exchange news and ideas.

TWS’ Annual Conference also offers numerous activities designed specifically for students and young professionals, including the ever-popular (and increasingly competitive) Quiz Bowl, the student-professional mixer, a student breakfast, and a number of mentoring sessions.

By traveling across the Big Water to attend this year’s Annual Conference, your energy and ideas will add greatly to the gathering, and the knowledge that you take home will no doubt benefit the resources we all work so hard to conserve. See you in Hawaii.

Tom Ryder
President, The Wildlife Society

Preliminary Program

WORKSHOPS (Registration required)

* Geospatial Skills Workshop
* Conserving Unique Hawaiian Wildlife in Urbanizing Island Environments
* Wildlife diagnostic sample collection, handling, and interpretation
* Influencing Local Scale Feral Cat Trap-Neuter-Release Decisions
* Animal Trapping Techniques for Researchers and Managers
* Analysis of the North American Breeding Bird Survey
* Communicating Climate Change: Being Articulate without Knowing Everything
* Hawaiian indigenous energy: meeting renewable goals in a biodiversity hotspot
* Pollutants and Wildlife Management: Ecotoxicology for Biologists and Land Managers
* Cartographic Design for Wildlife Professionals: Making Better Maps with GIS
* Mastering a Popular Writing Style
* Nature’s Notebook: Tracking wildlife and habitat within changing environments
* The Conservation Education Strategy – Achieving Excellence in Wildlife Education
* Using Social Media for Outreach and Education?!! Seriously?
* Communicating Wildlife Data Using Google Mapping Applications
* Conservation Conflict Resolution: An Experiential Training for Wildlife Professionals

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

* Developing the Next Generation of Wildlife Professionals: Challenges and Possible Solutions
* Rewards and Challenges of Online Wildlife Degree Programs
* America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative: Linking Conservation, Working Lands, and National Defense.
* Bat Migration: Information Needs Now, Not Later

BREAKFAST ROUND TABLES (Registration required)

* Genetically Engineered biofuels and food animals: Implications for Wildlife

SYMPOSIA

* Wind Energy and Wildlife
* Science and Wildlife Conservation in the Hawaiian Islands
* Recent Developments in the Study of Animal Movement
* Helping Resource Managers Cope With Threats and Change
* On the precipice: revolutionizing conservation genetics using genomic approaches
* Past, Present, Future: Implementing Hawaiian Culture in Conservation
* Biofuels and biodiversity in managed forests
* Wild Pigs: An overview of history, status, and management
* Location-Only and Use-Availability Data: Analysis Methods Converge
* Analysis of the North American Breeding Bird Survey
* Managing Wildlife Habitat in Coastal Areas for Climate Change
* Engaging, Educating, and Equipping Future Biologists and Voters
* Wildlife and Roads in Urban Ecosystems
* Role of Zoos and Managed Populations in Wildlife Conservation
* NRCS Sage-Grouse Initiative: Candidate Conservation using the Farm Bill
* Invasive species management
* Demographics of Reintroduced Populations: Estimation, Modeling, and Decision Analysis
* A Voyage of Wildlife Diseases around the Pacific Ocean
* Social Conflict Over Wildlife: Human-Wildlife Conflict Re-envisioned

— Find out more:
http://wildlifesociety.org

3 Responses to “Wildlife Society conference in Waikoloa (Nov 5-10)”

  1. Ridiculous says:

    On “Influencing Local Scale Feral Cat Trap-Neuter-Release Decisions” – WHAT A JOKE! According to the description at their site: “We will review the array of useful tools available, including FAQ sheets, photos, videos, education literature .. provide a public meeting role playing activity and opportunity.” (http://wildlifesociety.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137:workshops&catid=43:half-day-workshops&Itemid=119)

    Frankly this sounds like what proselytizing religions does to train their people. Of course, most people do not critically examine the data, and clearly the Wildlife Society has their own agenda to push rather than consider this from an open perspective. The bottom line is there is a set of information that people are supposed to BELIEVE IN, whether they know it or not this is an -insult- to the public officials intelligence. It is essentially selling a position rather than actually examining and working with the issue.

    Practical Question: Does the Wildlife Society EVER work with this issue on a case by case basis, or do they pretty much just advocate a standard set of policy? Does this seem reasonable, scientific especially when it comes to dealing with WILDLIFE?

    So, will this post be censored? On what grounds?

  2. Jean says:

    I would appreciate it very kindly if the people who take the “Influencing Local Scale Feral Cat Trap-Neuter-Release Decisions” seminar would stay out of my town, my county and my state. We’re capable of deciding what’s best for our own community. Thank you.

    • Wayne says:

      As a cat owner, I very much understand the love and affection one can have for cats. What I cannot understand is the illogical thinking relating to people’s support for Trap-Neuter-Release. Cats are an ecological nightmare, and burying your head in the sand to this FACT isn’t helpful. Compounding the problem is the obnoxious behavior of people who would rather see cats remain a problem for wildlife. There is a compromise here, folks – keep your cat indoors at all times.

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