Students, staff and faculty in the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) made their mark at The Wildlife Society’s 30th Annual Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky.
Held over 5 days the experience convened with an Opening Plenary on Communicating in an Era of Science Mistrust followed by the annual Aldo Leopold Address and offered nearly 2,000 wildlife biologists, managers, educators and students for a schedule full of opportunities to share research findings, develop professionally through presentation of research and networking and learn from others working to fulfill The Wildlife Society mission, “To inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and their habitats through science-based management and conservation.”
Making their mark
SENR faculty, students and staff shared research with implications for wildlife and habitat conservation in Ohio and beyond via contributed papers and/or posters at the conference. “National conferences such as these are invaluable for exchanging ideas, learning about research and initiatives beyond Ohio, and for forming or re-kindling professional relationships,” said Bill Peterman, associate professor of wildlife ecology and management in the SENR, who is shown above with a group of students attending the conference. “It's also important for students to see the value and interest in their research from a diverse audience.”
A selection of poster presentations by SENR graduate students at The Wildlife Society’s 30th Annual Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky.
SENR participation included contributed papers and poster presentations.
Contributed papers
William E. Peterman, Associate Professor, Spatial scale of forest effects on breeding bird occurrence
Olivia Ruppert, PhD candidate, DNA metabarcoding to characterize diversity and occupancy of wetland herpetofauna in the Great Lakes Region
Ashlyn Halseth, MS candidate, Long-term surveillance of sarcoptic mange within a highly urbanized wild coyote population
Shelby Carlson, Post Doctoral Scholar, Social habitat for cougar restoration in the northeastern United States
Allison Williams, MS candidate, Landscape configuration, host abundance, and climate suitability drive the expansion of blacklegged ticks in Ohio
Abigail Thiemkey, MS candidate, Population demographic patterns of coyotes (Canis latrans) in Ohio
Student research posters
Jess Dong, PhD candidate, How do climate and landscape changes affect avian community diversity at the local scale?
Andrea Spurck, MS candidate, Modeling changing winter waterfowl distribution in Ohio and the Great Lakes Region
Ashley Laiveling, MS candidate, Aquatic-terrestrial linkages as pathways for dissemination of carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae in Ohio watersheds
Joe Hinz, MS candidate, Modeling and Assessment of Habitat Suitability for Ruffed Grouse in Ohio
Marissa Roseman, PhD candidate, Genomic consequences of population isolation in timber rattlesnakes
Grant Ravary, MS candidate, A multiscale landscape view on ring-necked pheasant habitat connectivity
Courtney Anderson, PhD candidate, Habitat use and movement patterns of an urban-adapted apex predator, the coyote
Aidan McCarthy, MS candidate, Spatial occupancy of an endangered salamander, Aneides aeneus, in Ohio
Dylan Darter, MS candidate, Pre-nesting movements of wild turkey hens in southern Ohio
SENR was a bronze sponsor of the event and hosted a booth sharing information on our majors, the Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Lab (TWEL), the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative, and other opportunities to engage with the school.