What’s happening Monday at TWS’ Virtual Conference?

The Wildlife Society’s 2020 Virtual Conference launches on Monday with a day packed full of symposia, panel discussions and networking events. Fill out your schedule with exciting opportunities to expand your knowledge, meet up with friends and make new ones. Most of these events are only available on Monday, so watch them while you can so you can participate in the live panels on Tuesday.

Please note, while the times listed here are in EDT, participants will see the times displayed on the platform in their own time zones.

Plenary

Watch the plenary, Keeping Science Scientific: Web of UnScience, starting at noon EDT, and join in the question-and-answer session following the presentations.

Symposia

Monday’s symposia include “Relevance of Sustainable Use of Wildlife in a Changing Society.” Supported by the Hunting, Trapping and Conservation Working Group and the International Wildlife Management Working Group, organizers Darren Miller, of NCASI and Mississippi State, and Shane Mahoney, of Conservation Visions, engage participants in what this core tenet of wildlife management means today.

In the session, participants will explore how changing societal values toward wildlife challenge the acceptability and social license of sustainable use policies. The session will consider how wildlife stakeholders and wildlife conservation professionals perceive sustainable use and discuss perspectives from agencies, universities, students, young professionals and international entities.

The symposium panel will take place Tuesday at 1 p.m. EDT, giving conference attendees a chance to exchange ideas with the symposium participants.

Here are other symposia taking place Monday. Watch for their live panels later in the week.

Mentorship Across Lived Experiences: Highlighting the diversity of lived experiences wildlifers have and how mentorship can play a role in people’s career path, success and wellbeing within the field. Supported by: Early Career Professionals Working Group, Ethnic and Gender Diversity Working Group, Mentorship for Life

Wild Pigs in Wildlife Habitat and Rangelands: Exploring the effects of wild pigs on the landscape and efforts to remove them. Supported by: Rangeland Wildlife Working Group, Society for Range Management Wildlife Habitat Committee, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services

Long-Term Data Sets for Biodiversity Monitoring, Research, and Management: Focusing on long-term data sets at the ecosystem, species and genetic scales; their utility to assess spatial and temporal trends across a variety of ecosystems; and their applications at global, regional and local scales. Supported by: Spatial Ecology and Telemetry Working Group, Biometrics Working Group, Invasive Species Working Group

Anthropogenic Subsidies and Wildlife: The Good, the Bad, and the Unintended Consequences of Food and Shelter Subsidies for Wildlife: Bringing together scientists to present a broad spectrum of research on the beneficial and harmful effects of anthropogenic subsidies on wildlife in urban and suburban settings, including impacts to rare and threatened species inhabiting adjacent parks or refuges. Supported by: Urban Wildlife Working Group

Trending… A TWS Journal Spotlight on the Most Downloaded Papers of 2020: A look at the most popular TWS journal articles of the year as a snapshot of what’s trending in the profession, with featured authors describing their research. As a complement to the symposium, take part in a journal editor networking lounge with the editors-in-chief of the three TWS journals and other editors and representatives from Wiley and TWS.

Panel Discussion

Take part in the livestreaming panel discussion Much More Than a First Aid Kit: Keeping Everyone Safe in the Field from 2:30 to 4 p.m. EDT.

Networking

Student-Professional Networking Event: Headlining this year’s evening networking events is the Student-Professional Networking Event from 6 to 8 p.m. EDT. Rather than bounce from table to table chatting with professionals, you’ll bounce from video chat lounge to video chat lounge. Kick off your conference on Monday evening with representatives from universities, agencies, NGOs, consulting firms and other sectors.

Other networking opportunities include Out in the Field, the Fellowship of Christian Conservationists, lots of working group meetings and more.

Throughout the week, explore the poster sessions, visitor our exhibitors, and check out the Fish and Wildlife Film Festival and other opportunities in this unique virtual conference.