Agenda

The scientific themes for the conference sessions include:

  • Wildlife health and climate change
  • Human dimensions and wildlife health (including public perception of nature and influencing behavior change)
  • Systems thinking and approaches to One Health and wildlife health
  • Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of wildlife scientists in the response
  • Zoonosis and wildlife
  • Innovations in diagnostics and surveillance
  • Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Special Session on Wildlife Disease Management/Monitoring/Evaluation
  • Emerging and Legacy Contaminants and Wildlife Health
  • American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians Special Session on the Use of Immunotherapeutics in Wildlife

Students also play a prominent role in the conference, with an entire day dedicated exclusively to student presentations. WDA encourages student participation, sponsoring several conference travel grants and student awards including two scholarships, a research recognition travel award, a best student presentation award and a best student poster award. In addition, we are planning the usual array of social events including an icebreaker on the University of Wisconsin campus, picnic at the International Crane Foundation, and an auction and banquet. More details will be forthcoming.

Conservation Conversation Corner

In keeping with the theme of this year’s conference, “Holistic Solutions for Wildlife Health,” and the mission of WDA to, in part, “promote healthy wildlife and ecosystems,” we will be featuring the Conservation Conversation Corner, where participants can share their own ideas about how to promote wildlife health; this includes what is meant by health, reorienting from disease to health, and considering challenges inherent in this reorientation. Throughout the week, we will be hosting a brainstorming exercise to gather the community’s thoughts on these topics, and will report results of the exercise at the conclusion of the conference. We welcome all into this conversation, which we hope can continue into the years ahead and will prove truly transformational as we engage the complex issues facing wildlife and our community.

Agenda

**Tentative – details subject to change**

Sunday, July 24
Time Session Location
8:00am-5:00pm Registration 2nd Floor Atrium. Concourse Hotel
8:30am-5:00pm

ACZM Workshop

*Registration Required

Assembly & Caucus, Concourse Hotel
8:30am-10:00am

Student Workshop – Writing for Scientific Publications

*Registration Required

University Room, Concourse Hotel
11:00am-1:00pm

Student Workshop – Science Communications Workshop

*Registration Required

University Room, Concourse Hotel
5:30pm-7:30pm Icebreaker Picnic University of Wisconsin-Madison Campus

 

Monday, July 25
Time Session Location
7:15am-8:00am Yoga Assembly Room
7:30am-8:30am Breakfast Capitol Ballroom A
7:30am-2:00pm Registration 2nd Floor Atrium
8:30am-10:00am Opening Session Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
8:30am Opening Remarks from Conference Host Jonathan Sleeman
8:30am Land Acknowledgement & Welcome from WDA President Andrew Peters
8:40am Welcome from Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Preston Cole
8:50am Opening Remarks from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Colin Gillin
8:55am Welcome from the Conference Student Hosts Haley Lin & Keegan Lim
9:00am Opening Remarks from the Director General of the World Animal Health Organization Monique Eliot
9:10am Holistic Solutions for Wildlife Health: What Does it Mean and What Can We Do? Brett Elkin
10:00am-10:30am AM Break Capitol Ballroom A
10:30am-11:15am Wildlife Disease Association Carlton M. Herman Founder’s Fund, Cutting-Edge Speaker Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
SARS-CoV-2 and White-Tailed Deer Vivel Kapur
11:15am-12:00pm American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, Al Franzmann Speaker and Award Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
Wildlife Vaccination as a Disease Management Tool: Current State of the Art and Prospects for the Future Tonie Rocke
12:00pm-1:00pm Lunch & Business Meeting Capitol Ballroom A
1:00pm-9:00pm International Crane Foundation Tour & Dinner

 

Tuesday, July 26
Day 3 Tuesday, July 26th  
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM AAWV Business Meeting University Room CD
7:15 AM – 8:00 AM Yoga Parlor Room 629
7:30 AM – 8:30 AM Breakfast Capitol Ballroom A
7:30 AM – 1:00 PM Registration 2nd Floor Atrium
8:30 AM – 9:05 AM Graduate Student Research Recognition Award Winner and Keynote Speaker Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
8:30 AM Emerging California Serogroup Viruses in Northern Canada Wildlife

Kayla Buhler

University of Saskatchewan

9:15 AM – 10:00 AM Student Presentations Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
9:15 AM Viral Surveillance in Sanctuary Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Across Africa

Emily Dunay

University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine

9:30 AM “Healthy Children, Healthy Chimps”: Reducing Reverse Zoonotic Respiratory Virus Transmission from Humans to Chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda

Taylor Weary

University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine

9:45 AM Human Herpesvirus and Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Complex in Confiscated and Rescued Neotropical Primates in Peru

Fernando Javier Vilchez Delgado

Tufts University

10:00 AM – 10:45 AM

Morning Break & Poster Session

Poster Numbers 97-133

Buffet in Ballroom A & Posters in Ballroom B
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM Student Presentations Continued Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
10:45 AM Diagnostic Assays to Detect Entomopathogenic Serratia spp. In the Critically Endangered Lord Howe Island Stick Insect (Dryococelus austrails)

Nicholas Doidge

University of Melbourne

11:00 AM Black-legged Ticks (Ixodes scapularis) Harbor and Excrete Chronic Wasting Disease Prions from Infected Blood Meals

Heather N’te Inzalaco

University of Wisconsin-Madison

11:15 AM Laparoscopic Oviductal Artificial Insemination with Frozen Semen for Conservation Management of Endangered Ocelots in Southern Texas

Ashley Reeves

University of Tennessee

11:30 AM Cataloging Retinal Lesions in Asiatic Black Bears (Ursus thibetanus)

Kylie McDaniel

Tufts University

11:45 AM Immobilization of Helicopter-Captured Elk (Cervus canadensis) with Butorphanol-Asaperone-Medetomidine Versus Nalbuphine-Medetomidine-Azaperone

Kathleen Williams

University of Kentucky

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Lunch & Business Meeting Capitol Ballroom A
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM Student Presentations Continued Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
1:30 PM Multi-Strain Domestic Spillover of Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae and Severe Epizootic Pneumonia Affecting Bighorn Sheep (Ovis Canadensis) in Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Treana Mayer

Colorado State University

1:45 PM Synanthropic Mesomammals and the Peridomestic Transmission Cycle of Trypanansoma cruzi in Florida

Carson Torhorst

University of Florida

2:00 PM Don’t poop here! Detection and genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in feral cat feces near Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) habitat

Sophie Zhu

University of California, Davis

2:15 PM Are Urban Rookeries Ecological Sources or Sinks? Trade-offs to Urban Nesting in a Wetland Bird

Julia Silva Seixas

University of Georgia

2:30 PM Effect of Food Addition and Helminth Removal on Spatial Overlap Networks in Wild Bank Voles (Myodes Glareolus)

Janine Mistrick

University of Minnesota

2:45 PM Hijacking Bat Keratinocytes: Mechanistic Insights into the Early Stages of White Nose Syndrome

Marcos Isidoro-Ayza

University of Wisconsin-Madison

3:00 PM – 3:45 PM

Afternoon Break & Poster Session

Poster Number 97-133

Buffet in Ballroom A & Posters in Ballroom B
3:45 PM – 5:00 PM Student Presentations Continued Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
3:45 PM Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza: Clinical Presentation, Pathology, and Shedding Profiles in a Variety of Southeastern Birds

Chloe Goodwin

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study

4:00 PM Comparison of Natural and Experimental West Nile Virus Infections in Free-Ranging Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa Umbellus)

Melanie Kunkel

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, University of Georgia

4:15 PM House Sparrows and Culex Quinquefasciatus Mosquitos are Capable of Transmitting Usutu Virus

Sarah Kuchinsky

Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

4:30 PM Nowhere to Fly: Ubiquitous Avian Malaria Transmission on Oʻahu

John Neddermeyer

Northern Arizona University

4:45 PM Avian Haemosporidian Infection and Cloacal Bacterial Diversity in Maine Waterfowl

Olivia Choi

University of Maine

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM Student-Mentor Mixer Assembly Room
6:30 PM – 10:00 PM Reception, Auction, Blues Band and Drinks Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
Wednesday, July 27
Day 4 Wednesday, July 27th  
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM Wildlife Veterinary Section Business Meeting University Room
7:15 AM – 8:00 AM Yoga Parlor Room 629
7:30 AM – 8:30 AM Breakfast Capitol Ballroom A
7:30 AM – 1:00 PM Registration 2nd Floor Atrium
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM

Panel Session I: Can we Create Change in Wildlife Health?

Moderator: LeAnn White

Panelists: Thijs Kuiken, Purnamita Dasgupta & Hans Keune

Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM Morning Break & Poster Session
Poster Numbers 134-220
Buffet in Ballroom A & Posters in Ballroom B
Concurrent Sessions

Session A

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Wildlife and Environmental Zoonoeses

Moderator: Ria Ghai

Assembly Room
10:30 AM The Genome of Rocky Mountain Elk Offers Insights into their Immunologic Responses to Bucella Abortus

Steven Olsen

Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture

10:45 AM Uncovering the Role of Northern Elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) in Maintaining Leptospira in the Marine Ecosystem

Katie Prager

University of California, Los Angeles

11:00 AM Non-Invasive Saliva Collection for Evaluation of Peri-Urban Primate Exposure to Arboviruses of Public Health and Conservation Concern

Tierra Smiley Evans

University of California, Davis

11:15 AM Urban Host-Parasite Dynamics of Two Small Mammals

Kimberly Fake

Lincoln Park Zoo, Urban Wildlife Institute

11:30 AM The Wild Life of Ticks: Using Passive Surveillance to Determine the Distribution and Host Range of Ticks and the Exotic Haemaphysalis Longicornis, 2010-2021

Michael Yabsley

University of Georgia

11:45 AM Assessing the Effects of Saxitoxin Ingestion by Common Murres

Matthew Smith

Alaska Science Center, United States Geological Survey

Session B

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Emerging and Legacy Contaminants and One Health

Moderator: Thierry Work

Senate Room
10:30 AM Impact of Lead Ammunition on Bald Eagle Dynamics in the Northeast United States

Krysten Schuler

Cornell Wildlife Health Lab

10:45 AM Assessing Neonicotinoids Exposure in Free-Ranging White-Tailed Deer in Minnesota

Michelle Carstensen

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

11:00 AM Causes of Death and Disease Prevalence in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Stranding in Alabama Between 2015 and 2020, Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Jennifer Bloodgood

Dauphin Island Sea Lab

11:15 AM Investigating Levels of Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Minnesota White-Tailed Deer

Kelsie LaSharr

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

11:30 AM One Health for All: Advancing Wildlife, Human, and Ecosystem Health in Cities by Integrating an Environmental Justice Lens

Jacqueline Buckley

Lincoln Park Zoo

11:45 AM Wildlife Health as Part of a Transformative Change to Operattionalize One Health Governance in a Post-Pandemic World

Carlos Das Neves

Norwegian Veterinary Institute

Session C

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Systems Thinking and Approaches to One Health and Wildlife Health

Moderator: LeAnn White

University Room
10:30 AM Commodity-Based Trade of Beef: A Holistic Solution for the Future of KAZA’s People and Wildlife

Steven A. Osofsky

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

10:45 AM Widllife Health in Environmental Impact Assessments: Are We Missing a Key Metric?

Oscar Alejandro Aleuy

University of Notre Dame

11:00 AM Systems Thinking applied to Wildlife Health: Building a One Health Framework to Facilitate Adaptive Change within a State Wildlife Agency and Beyond

Sherri Russell

Missouri Department of Conservation

11:15 AM A Large-Scale Empirical Study of Hibernating Bat Energetics and Modeled Implications on White-Nose Syndrome Susceptibility

Sarah Olson

Wildlife Conservation Society

11:30 AM One Health and Wildlife Conservation: Insights from Wood Bison and Beyond

Craig Stephen

McEachran Institute

11:45 AM Landscape of Participatory Surveillance Systems in Wildlife Health

Carrie McNeil

One Health Specialist

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Boxed Lunch Capitol Ballroom A
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM

Lunchtime Session: What’s Happening with Wildlife

Moderator: Tiggy Grillo, World Organization for Animal Health

University Room
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM

Lunchtime Session: Ending Pandemics

Moderator: Carrie McNeil, One Health Specialist

Conference Room III
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Meeting Conference Room V
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM

Lunchtime Session: Student Roundtable – Development of a North American Student Section

Moderator: Marianthis Ioannidis, Utrecht University

 Senate A&B
1:00 PM Free Afternoon/Dinner on Own
4:00 PM – 8:00 PM Appreciation Event Sponsored by Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors The Edgewater Hotel Sky Bar
7:00 PM Concerts on the Square Capitol Lawn
Thursday, July 28
Time Session Location
7:15am-8:00am Yoga Assembly Room
7:30am-8:30am Breakfast Capitol Ballroom A
7:30am-7:00pm Registration 2nd Floor Atrium
8:30am-10:00am The Power of Collaborations for One Health Outcomes Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
10:00am-10:45am AM Break & Posters Capitol Ballrooms A&B
10:45am

Concurrent Session A

Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Speical Session on Wildlife Disease/Management/Monitoring/Evaluation

Assembly Room
10:45am Invasive Corallimorpharians at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge are No Match for Lye and Heat Theirry Work
11:00am Epidemiology of Pathogens in Endangered Peninsular Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) Jessica N. Sanchez
11:15am Cause of Death, Pathology, and Chronic Wasting Disease Status of White-Tailed Deer Mortalities in Wisconsin Marie Gilbertson
11:30am Behavioral Scrapes as a Route of Transmission and Potential Environmental Sentinel for Chronic Wasting Disease Miranda Huang
11:45am Relatedness of White-Tailed Deer from Culling Efforts Within a Disease Management Zone in Minnesota Alberto Fameli
10:45am

Concurrent Session B

Disease Outbreaks and Investigations

Senate Room
10:45am Monitoring and Surveillance of Unprecedented Wildlife Mortality Due to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus Infections 2020-2022 Paul James Duff
11:00am Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is Maintained by Conspecific Scavenging in Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) in Florida Mark Cunningham
11:15am Feline Leukomyelopathy in Florida Panthers and Bobcats Hollis Ann Stewart
11:30am Retroviral Infections Affect Survival and Reproduction of Female Wild Turkeys Stephanie Shea
11:45am A Sarcoptic Mange Outbreak Devastates Wild Camelid Populations in a Protected Area in Argentina Marcella Uhart
10:45am

Concurrent Session C

American Association of Wildlife Veternarians Special Session on Innovations

University Room
10:45am Spatiotemporal Bayesian Model of Pseudogymnoascus Destructans Spread Juan Francisco
11:00am The Importance of Case Definitions in Wildlife Health E. Jane Parmley
11:15am A Field-Deployable Diagnostic Assay for the Visual Detection of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions Peter Christenson
11:30am Histopathology and Genomic Analysis Suggest White-Nose Syndrome / Pseudogymnoascus Destructans Evolved From and Maintains Invasion Strategies of Plant Fungal Pathogens Carol Meteyer
11:45am WildHealthNet: A One Health Approach to Sustainable Wildlife Health Surveillance Mathieu Pruvot
12:00pm-1:30pm Lunch & Business Meeting Capitol Ballroom A
1:30pm-3:00pm The Future of Training Wildlife Health Professionals Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
3:00pm-3:45pm PM Break & Posters Capitol Ballroom A&B
3:45pm

Concurrent Session A

Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Special Session on Wildlife Disease

Assembly Room
3:45pm Widespread Detection of Batrochochytrium Dendrobaditis on Urodele and Anuran Species is Driven by Temperature and Fine-Scale Taxonomy in the United States Daniel Grear
4:00pm Using Mosquito Surveillance to Inform Risk of West Nile Virus Exposure to Ruffed Grouse Populations in Pennsylvania Kristin Bondo
4:15pm Demographic Risk Factor Variation in an Initial Outbreak of Chronic Wasting Disease in West Virginia Brian Dugovich
4:30pm Associations of White-Tailed Deer With and Without Chronic Wasting Disease W. David Walter
4:45pm Predicted Probability of Chronic Wasting Disease Infection Among Cervids in Kansas Using a Generalized Additive Model Zoe Koestel
3:45pm

Concurrent Session B

Disease Outbreaks and Investigations Continued

Senate Room
3:45pm Sharp Decline in Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Nesting Success Associated with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Outbreak Mark Ruder
4:00pm Metagenomic Sequencing to Identify the Etiologic Agent Responsible for Pneumonia-Related Mortality in Wisconsin White-Tailed Deer Melanie Prentice
4:15pm 2021 Songbird Mortality Event – A Summary of Fndings and Ongoing Investigations Sabrina Greening
4:30pm A 20+ Year Retrospective of Amphibian and Reptile Disease Events in the United States Megan Winzeler
4:45pm A Mortality Event of Double-Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in Florida Caused by a Novel Eimeria Species Lisa Shender
3:45pm

Concurrent Session C

American Association of Wildlife Veternarians Speical Session on Innovations

University Room
3:45pm Hoiho & Malaria: A Real-Time Avian Malaria Warning System to Aid Yellow-Eyed Penguin Conservation Efforts in New Zealand Chris Niebuhr
4:00pm Geographic Risk Assessment of Batrachochytrium Salamandrivorans Invasion in Costa Rica Henry Adams
4:15pm Maps, Math, and Models: Data-Driven Decisions to Inform Chronic Wasting Disease Surveillance Corey Mitchell
4:30pm Data Collection and Management Tools for Wildlife Health Surveillance Diego Montecine-Latorre
4:45pm What’s All the Noise about WHISPers? An overview of Initial Successes and Future Improvements for the USGS NWHC Wildlife Health Sharing Partnership – Event Reporting System Katherin Richgels
5:00pm-6:00pm WDA Annual Business Meeting Senate Room
6:30pm Cocktail Hour Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
7:30pm-11:00pm Closing Banquet, Awards Ceremony, and Dancing Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
Friday, July 29
Time Session Location
8:00am-1:00pm Registration 2nd Floor Atrium
8:00am-9:00am Breakfast Capitol Ballroom A
9:00am

Concurrent Session A

Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Special Session on Wildlife Disease Management/Monitoring/Evaluation Continued

Assembly Room
9:00am Two Years of Hemorrhagic Disease in North Dakota Charlie Bahnson
9:15am Climate Influenced Disease Expansion of Hemorrhagic Disease Sonja Christensen
9:30am Using Surveillance to Inform Wildlife Disease Management: Mandatory Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Sampling in Missouri as a Case Study Jasmine Batten
9:45am Environmental Transmission of Treponeme-Associated Hoof Disease in Captive Elk Margaret Wild
10:00am Host Immune Responses to Enzootic and Invasive Pathogen Lineages vary in Magnitude, timing, and Efficacy Coby Mcdonald
10:15am Epizootic of quail bronchitis virus in captive Northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) and masked bobwhite (C. virginianus ridgwayi) reveals apparent species difference in susceptibility Anne Justice-Allen
9:00am

Concurrent Session B

Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Pandemics and the Role of Wildlife Scientists in the Response

Senate Room
9:00am SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance of White-Tailed Deer in the United States Jeffery Chandler
9:15am Experimental Infection of Wild Canids with SARS-CoV-2 Stephanie Porter
9:30am Mobilizing Multiple Sectors, Disciplines and Communities at Varying Levels for Pandemic Primary Prevention: The International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade Hannah Emde
9:45am Using a One Health Approach to Structure Federal Coordination on SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Wildlife Ria Ghai
10:00am Structural Biology of Zoonotic Diseases: GM/CA@APS, and a PREVENT Proposal Michael Becker
10:15am Experimental infection of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) with SARS-CoV-2 Jeffery Hall
9:00am

Concurrent Session C

Human Dimensions and Wildlife Health

University Room
9:00am Using Population Genetics to Trace the Origins of Ophidiomyces Ophidiicola, the Causative Agent of Snake Fungal Disease, in North America Jeff Lorch
9:15am Wildlife Disease Surveillance – Just the Tip of the Iceberg Anne Ballmann
9:30am Knowledge Basis for the Management of Chronic Wasting disease in Norway and Current Status; Will We Mange to Eradicate the Disease Bjørnar Ytrehus
9:45am Supplementary Salt Licks as Transmission Hot-Spots Between Wild and Domestic Ruminants Kjersti Selstad Utaaker
10:00am Chronic Wasting Disease Show and Tell: Gauging Hunters Willingness to Adopt Management Practices Sonja Christensen
10:15am Broader Participation in Wildlife Health Research Endeavours: Why Do We Need It, Who Do We Need and What Could it Look Like? Andrew Peters
10:30am-11:00am AM Break & Posters Capitol Ballroom A&B
11:00am-12:00pm Panel Sessions Re-Cap and Wrap Up Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom
12:00pm-12:30pm Closing Remarks Madison/Wisconsin Ballroom