What’s happening Thursday at TWS’ Virtual Conference?

Thursday is the last day of symposia at The Wildlife Society’s 2020 Virtual Conference. Participants can join in to talks on four different subjects. These symposia are only available on Thursday. Take part in them so you can participate in the live panels on Friday. While the times listed here are in EDT, conference participants will see the times displayed on the platform in their own time zones.

One symposium with an eye on developing trends in the profession is “Drones and Wildlife Management: Are We Tapping Into Their Full Potential in An Ethical Way?” These devices are increasingly being used in monitoring, surveys, wildlife health assessments, mapping, tool and bait delivery and even wildlife dispersal. Although many of their uses are still preliminary, drone technology is being seen as a way to significantly reduce costs and effort, produce high quality data and provide a unique vantage point to study complex systems.

These new tools bring with them their own set of challenges, though, as well as possible ethical concerns. This symposium brings together stakeholders to discuss potential ethical and logistic barriers to drone use in wildlife management. Supported by the Drone Working Group and Military Lands Working Group, the symposium considers regulations, potential wildlife impacts, applications, standardization, data post-processing and future directions in drone use.

Come to the symposium panel Friday at 3 p.m. to exchange ideas with the symposium participants.

Here are other events taking place Thursday:

Symposia

Conservation Through Partnership: Collaboration, Cooperation and Trust for Managing At-Risk Species on Private Timberlands in the Southeastern U.S.: Speakers present the National Alliance of Forest Owners Wildlife Conservation Initiative as a new way to approach the challenge of conserving species in working forests through collaborative research and management of habitat for threatened and endangered species. The initiative brings together private landowners and private and public stakeholders to explore the relationship between forest management and conservation of at-risk and listed species, with the aim of increasing landowner understanding of species conservation needs and improve the appreciation of managed forests by the public and conservation stakeholders. Supported by The Sustainable Forestry Initiative, NCASI, Resource Management Service.

The Rusty Blackbird: Recent Research to Fuel Conservation Strategies: Participants present research on a widespread North American species that has shown population declines. The symposium will include life cycle modelling, parasites, geospatial tracking and genetics.

The National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Network: Advancing Understanding of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation: Speakers introduce the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Network, a recent group of federal, state, tribal and nongovernmental professionals seeking to facilitate climate change adaptation. Presentations will provide an overview of progress on climate adaptation, a status report on climate change impacts and reflections on experiences in creating and deploying adaptation plans. Supported by: Climate Change and Wildlife Working Group, Native Peoples’ Wildlife Management Working Group.

Panel Discussion

Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Wildlife Profession

How does racial justice and inequity fit into the efforts of our professional society? Why does the diversity of our profession not reflect the diversity of the greater population? Join an inclusive discussion for all wildlifers to reflect on our past, take stock of the present and plan for the future of The Wildlife Society and the profession at large.  12:30 p.m. EDT.

Members Meeting

Join with fellow TWS members at the annual members meeting. 6:30 p.m. EDT.

Sessions

Pop into the Film Festival Q&A at 4:30 p.m. EDT, and prove your wildlife knowledge at Pub Trivia Night at 8 p.m. EDT.