2021 ARCHIVES: Workshops
We’re pleased to offer the following workshops at the 2021 NEAFWA Conference. Thank you to the workshop organizers for their efforts to provide these additional educational opportunities with an emphasis on a specific skill, technique, or process.
There is no fee to attend, but pre-registration is required for participation in all workshops. Sign up will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis via the online registration form.
There is no fee to attend, but pre-registration is required for participation in all workshops. Sign up will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis via the online registration form.
Tuesday, April 27
Introduction to Conservation Leadership
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (ET)
Contact: Paul Kazyak, Maryland DNR (retired), AFWA Management Assistance Team National Faculty, Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs Faculty
Overview: The purpose of this workshop will be to provide students in the fish, wildlife and conservation fields with an introductory overview of natural resources leadership techniques and skills that will help them achieve the things they set out to do. Learning to exercise effective leadership is truly a journey, and this interactive workshop will help students crack open the door and begin down the path to making a bigger difference in the world.
Intended Audience: Undergraduate or graduate students in the field of natural resources management/conservation
Contact: Paul Kazyak, Maryland DNR (retired), AFWA Management Assistance Team National Faculty, Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs Faculty
Overview: The purpose of this workshop will be to provide students in the fish, wildlife and conservation fields with an introductory overview of natural resources leadership techniques and skills that will help them achieve the things they set out to do. Learning to exercise effective leadership is truly a journey, and this interactive workshop will help students crack open the door and begin down the path to making a bigger difference in the world.
Intended Audience: Undergraduate or graduate students in the field of natural resources management/conservation
Wednesday, April 28
Geospatial Analysis in R
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (ET)
Contact: Amanda Cheeseman, Postdoctoral Associate, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, acheesem@syr.edu
Co-Organizer: Lisanne Petracca, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Sponsored by the Roosevelt Wild Life Station
Overview:
This workshop will give participants the tools to say farewell to ArcMap/QGIS and do their geospatial workflow entirely within R. We will begin with a general overview of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) data, the importance of GIS to wildlife management and conservation, and how R can improve your GIS efficiency. Then, we will use the R packages sp, sf, and, raster to run through typical geospatial tasks, with time for individual exercises based on real-life wildlife data. Topics will include importing vector and raster data into R from a variety of sources (e.g. local directory, packages, online resources), subsetting data based on location or data attributes, reprojecting data to geographic and projected coordinate systems, creating new data (e.g. random or stratified random points, survey grids, buffers, centroids within polygons), merging and dissolving shapefiles, calculating geometry (e.g. area, perimeter), extracting values for points/lines/polygons from underlying covariate layers. We will employ a number of hands-on exercises, including, for example, extracting covariate information for buffers around camera traps in Honduras. The workshop will close with some tips on cartography and creating high-impact maps in R, including use of ggmap. We expect some familiarity with GIS software and/or R, though this workshop will be targeted to a broad audience. Required software: Program R. Sponsored by the Roosevelt Wild Life Station, SUNY-ESF
Intended Audience: General audience (students and professionals; beginner-advanced) though knowledge of R and GIS is recommended
Contact: Amanda Cheeseman, Postdoctoral Associate, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, acheesem@syr.edu
Co-Organizer: Lisanne Petracca, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Sponsored by the Roosevelt Wild Life Station
Overview:
This workshop will give participants the tools to say farewell to ArcMap/QGIS and do their geospatial workflow entirely within R. We will begin with a general overview of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) data, the importance of GIS to wildlife management and conservation, and how R can improve your GIS efficiency. Then, we will use the R packages sp, sf, and, raster to run through typical geospatial tasks, with time for individual exercises based on real-life wildlife data. Topics will include importing vector and raster data into R from a variety of sources (e.g. local directory, packages, online resources), subsetting data based on location or data attributes, reprojecting data to geographic and projected coordinate systems, creating new data (e.g. random or stratified random points, survey grids, buffers, centroids within polygons), merging and dissolving shapefiles, calculating geometry (e.g. area, perimeter), extracting values for points/lines/polygons from underlying covariate layers. We will employ a number of hands-on exercises, including, for example, extracting covariate information for buffers around camera traps in Honduras. The workshop will close with some tips on cartography and creating high-impact maps in R, including use of ggmap. We expect some familiarity with GIS software and/or R, though this workshop will be targeted to a broad audience. Required software: Program R. Sponsored by the Roosevelt Wild Life Station, SUNY-ESF
Intended Audience: General audience (students and professionals; beginner-advanced) though knowledge of R and GIS is recommended
Unlocking the Past to Preserve the Future: Toward a Holistic and Landscape Approach to Salt Marsh Restoration
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (ET)
Contact: Suzanne Paton, Supervisory Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Suzanne_Paton@fws.gov
Co-Organizers: Mitch_Hartley@fws.gov; Susan_Adamowicz@fws.gov
Overview:
For the last few decades, tidal marshes along the Atlantic Coast have experienced rapid loss and degradation due to historic alterations, ongoing anthropogenic impacts and sea-level rise. Concomitantly, salt marsh-dependent bird species like Saltmarsh Sparrow and Black Rail have declined dramatically since ~2000. Sea level rise rates along the Northeast Atlantic coast have accelerated at three to four times the global average, so there is an urgent need to develop and implement actions to improve the health and integrity of tidal marshes. Optimizing resource investments requires that we share information and practice adaptive management to maximize conservation benefits for salt marsh habitats and the species that depend on them. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal and state agencies and conservation organizations have begun to develop a collaborative framework (e.g. SALS Executive Committee, SMARTeams), tools and resources to guide implementation actions. Restoration projects are underway in many areas, along with extensive monitoring and adaptive management efforts.
The objective of this workshop is to facilitate information sharing between partners engaged in salt marsh conservation from Maine to Virginia. This workshop will 1) highlight the current status of partnerships in different states through an initial lightning round, 2) describe a suite of tools and datasets at different spatial scales used to assess marsh health and vulnerability, 3) describe processes to prioritize sites and guide implementation and 4) present case studies from a variety of restoration projects, focusing on lessons learned.
The workshop will incorporate ‘hands on’ experiences (time permitting) and end with a facilitated discussion.
Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of organizational frameworks supporting salt marsh restoration including the SALS Executive Committee, SMARTeams, and existing & developing Field Teams and workgroups. We will explore various tools and resources available; connect to other practitioners; and understand how to assess marsh health, prioritize efforts across sites, and begin implementation efforts.
Intended Audience: Salt marsh practitioners, to include federal and state landowners and natural resource professionals, conservation organizations engaged in salt marsh habitat and bird conservation (i.e.. salt marsh ecologists, biologists, avian ecologists) as well as academic researchers and students
Contact: Suzanne Paton, Supervisory Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Suzanne_Paton@fws.gov
Co-Organizers: Mitch_Hartley@fws.gov; Susan_Adamowicz@fws.gov
Overview:
For the last few decades, tidal marshes along the Atlantic Coast have experienced rapid loss and degradation due to historic alterations, ongoing anthropogenic impacts and sea-level rise. Concomitantly, salt marsh-dependent bird species like Saltmarsh Sparrow and Black Rail have declined dramatically since ~2000. Sea level rise rates along the Northeast Atlantic coast have accelerated at three to four times the global average, so there is an urgent need to develop and implement actions to improve the health and integrity of tidal marshes. Optimizing resource investments requires that we share information and practice adaptive management to maximize conservation benefits for salt marsh habitats and the species that depend on them. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal and state agencies and conservation organizations have begun to develop a collaborative framework (e.g. SALS Executive Committee, SMARTeams), tools and resources to guide implementation actions. Restoration projects are underway in many areas, along with extensive monitoring and adaptive management efforts.
The objective of this workshop is to facilitate information sharing between partners engaged in salt marsh conservation from Maine to Virginia. This workshop will 1) highlight the current status of partnerships in different states through an initial lightning round, 2) describe a suite of tools and datasets at different spatial scales used to assess marsh health and vulnerability, 3) describe processes to prioritize sites and guide implementation and 4) present case studies from a variety of restoration projects, focusing on lessons learned.
The workshop will incorporate ‘hands on’ experiences (time permitting) and end with a facilitated discussion.
Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of organizational frameworks supporting salt marsh restoration including the SALS Executive Committee, SMARTeams, and existing & developing Field Teams and workgroups. We will explore various tools and resources available; connect to other practitioners; and understand how to assess marsh health, prioritize efforts across sites, and begin implementation efforts.
Intended Audience: Salt marsh practitioners, to include federal and state landowners and natural resource professionals, conservation organizations engaged in salt marsh habitat and bird conservation (i.e.. salt marsh ecologists, biologists, avian ecologists) as well as academic researchers and students
How to Build a Multi-Channel Wildlife Education Program in a Virtual Learning World
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM (ET)
Contact: Lauren Ferreri, lferreri@pa.gov
Co-Organizer: Dan Lynch, dalynch@pa.gov; Mandy Marconi, mmarconi@pa.gov; Jordan Sanford, jorsanford@pa.gov
Overview:
Launched in Spring 2020 shortly after initial COVID-19 orders went into effect, Wildlife on WiFi is the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s nationally award-winning remote and virtual learning platform. Wildlife on WiFi seeks to connect Pennsylvania residents to their state’s wildlife from anywhere by providing innovative online learning opportunities, virtual lessons and educational resources about wildlife and its conservation. To date, Wildlife on WiFi has registered more than 75,000 user engagements, has been co-promoted by 25 state senators and representatives, has been featured in state media, received the 2020 Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Stephen Kellert Award for connecting humans to nature in a diverse and inclusive manner, as well as the 2020 Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators, Outstanding Environmental Education Program award.
In this workshop, participants will learn about the program’s origins, objectives, launch and communications strategies and get to learn about best-practices for building multi-channel remote and virtual wildlife education (at little to no cost) to help engage their own stakeholders. Specific learning objectives include an overview of available education delivery channels, collecting google/webinar analytics, how to right-size activities for each channel, and discuss the challenges and opportunities of virtual wildlife education.
Intended Audience: State wildlife agency communication and education professionals, formal and non-formal educators, and students. Technical proficiency low but a general knowledge of digital communications channels (web, social media, Zoom/Skype, etc.) is needed.
Contact: Lauren Ferreri, lferreri@pa.gov
Co-Organizer: Dan Lynch, dalynch@pa.gov; Mandy Marconi, mmarconi@pa.gov; Jordan Sanford, jorsanford@pa.gov
Overview:
Launched in Spring 2020 shortly after initial COVID-19 orders went into effect, Wildlife on WiFi is the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s nationally award-winning remote and virtual learning platform. Wildlife on WiFi seeks to connect Pennsylvania residents to their state’s wildlife from anywhere by providing innovative online learning opportunities, virtual lessons and educational resources about wildlife and its conservation. To date, Wildlife on WiFi has registered more than 75,000 user engagements, has been co-promoted by 25 state senators and representatives, has been featured in state media, received the 2020 Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Stephen Kellert Award for connecting humans to nature in a diverse and inclusive manner, as well as the 2020 Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators, Outstanding Environmental Education Program award.
In this workshop, participants will learn about the program’s origins, objectives, launch and communications strategies and get to learn about best-practices for building multi-channel remote and virtual wildlife education (at little to no cost) to help engage their own stakeholders. Specific learning objectives include an overview of available education delivery channels, collecting google/webinar analytics, how to right-size activities for each channel, and discuss the challenges and opportunities of virtual wildlife education.
Intended Audience: State wildlife agency communication and education professionals, formal and non-formal educators, and students. Technical proficiency low but a general knowledge of digital communications channels (web, social media, Zoom/Skype, etc.) is needed.
CANCELLED: A Beginners Guide to Public Involvement
Contact: Judy Stokes-Weber, MS in Communication Management; Retired from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department as Chief of the Public Affairs Division