Abstracts sought for Bird Strike Committee USA Conference

Planners of the 2018 Bird Strike Committee USA annual conference invite students, practitioners and others to submit presentations and posters for the meeting, which will be held Aug. 21-23 in Baltimore.

Wildlife Services airport biologist installs grid wires over a pond adjacent to an airbase to reduce its attractiveness to waterfowl. ©USAF

Invited and solicited presentations, panel discussions and poster presentations are planned, especially focused on the meeting’s theme, “Migration Nation – When Birds Collide.”

Sessions will consider the local, national and international connection and consequences between wildlife hazards and aviation. They also will reflect on the importance of partnerships and relationships in finding the balance between aircraft and wildlife, recognizing that wildlife will always be present on and around airfields. Presentations that speak directly to that theme are especially invited, but submission of presentation proposals on any wildlife-aviation topic are welcomed.

Especially encouraged for this year’s conference are papers and posters on conservation, sustainability, new techniques and methodologies for wildlife strike reduction, training issues, outreach and communication within and among entities (e.g., airports, airlines, pilots, regulators, environmental groups, etc.), risk management, science and technology.

Wildlife Services translocates an American kestrel away from an airport in an effort to protect both the bird and aviation. ©Wildlife Services

The submissions deadline is Friday, May 18. More information on the call for abstracts is available here.

For further information, email conference co-chair John E. Ostrom, Metropolitan Airports Commission, Minneapolis−St. Paul International Airport, at John.Ostrom@mspmac.org.

The Bird Strike Committee USA is a volunteer organization whose mission is to promote wildlife strike awareness and reporting, with the fundamental goal of reducing wildlife hazards to aviation.

For more information on the 2018 conference, see the conference website.  

Wildlife Services is a Strategic Partner of TWS.