MN SCB Polls 2013 Business Meeting Attendees

The 2013 MN SCB Annual Meeting, Conservation in the Anthropocene, included a stimulating symposium, contributed talks, a closing speaker, a poster session and social, and the annual Chapter Business Meeting.  Besides highlighting aspects of the work this past year, we asked the group of 32 Business Meeting attendees to answer several questions.  Here is a brief summary of the responses with a few added thoughts.

Who was at the 2013 Chapter Meeting?

Half Students, Half Professionals

MN SCB continues to attract a great mix of students and professionals.  The students are almost completely made up of graduate students (I think there was just 1 undergraduate this year).  The professionals are mostly from state agencies (principally DNR), followed by NGOs.  There are very few professors/research associates from academia. 

Potential areas for increased outreach and recruitment:

Professionals:  Professors and other academic researchers; professionals from federal agencies and local units of government

Students: should we be recruiting more undergraduates?

 

 

Mostly Newbies plus a Core of Folks with Many Years of Chapter Involvement

The 2013 meeting attendees were mostly new to MN SCB.  The meeting continued the trend of high attendee turnover between MN SCB annual meetings.  Fifty-six percent of the meeting attendees were new to MN SCB in the last year.  There is still a core group of about one-third of the attendees that have been involved in MN SCB for more than three years.   

Over Half of the Attendees have Never Been SCB Members

Less than twenty percent of meeting attendees are currently members of our chapter’s parent organization, the Society for Conservation Biology.  While this seems low it was encouraging to see that almost half of the meeting attendees have had a membership with SCB at some time. 

SCB Chapter bylaws for all chapters actually say that all chapter members must be members of the SCB also.  This has requirement has been contentious ever since it was established in the last 5-8 years.  In fact it has not been enforced.  Other approaches are being considered by SCB’s Chapters Committee.

What Are the Primary Activities that MN SCB Should Engage Minnesota’s Community of Conservation Scientists and Practitioners in?

The thirty-two Chapter Meeting attendees were asked to indicate the top three activities (in rank order) that they think MN SCB should focus on.  Of the eight activities listed, four stood out from the others:

1)     Continue to organize annual meetings

2)     Engage in conservation policy issues and advocacy

3)     Host lectures paired with social/networking events

4)     Convene working groups on critical conservation science issues

These results were largely affirming of activities that the chapter has been engaged in the last two to five years.  It is no surprise that attendees at the annual meeting ranked annual meetings as the highest priority.  But it was good to hear that hosting lectures paired with social/networking events ranked in the top three.  That is one of the main activities that the chapter has done more of in the last two years, hosting 3-4 such events per year.  Engagement in conservation policy issues ranked high in the past and again this year.  The times that the chapter has been most engaged in policy issues actually involved small work groups.  The chapter’s Conservation Biology-based recommendations on the 2008 U.S. Farm Bill are a case in point.  I think this idea of convening working groups on critical conservation science issues merits serious consideration by the chapter and its membership.  What are some prime candidate issues that a MN SCB-led working group could make a valuable contribution to?

Activities that ranked much lower included supporting public conservation education, publishing an e-newsletter, and facilitating volunteer conservation and restoration field opportunities.  The Board has discussed doing more on each of these, so this was very helpful input to help consider putting these ideas on the back burner.

Ratings of Eight Activities that MN SCB Could Engage Minnesota’s Community of Conservation Scientists and Practitioners In

 

Respectfully submitted,

 Andy Holdsworth

Past, Past President

MN SCB Annual Meeting to Feature Diverse Talks on Conservation Science and Practice

It is always a treat to see the abstracts roll in from Minnesota researchers, conservation professionals, and students wanting to present their work at the MN SCB Annual Meeting.  After the morning "Conservation in the Anthropocene" symposium, this Saturday's Annual Meeting will feature their work in two afternoon sessions. 

Session 1: Minnesota Conservation: Science and Action

1:00 pm Tara Harris, "The Minnesota Zoo's Wildlife Conservation Efforts in Minnesota"

1:25 pm Lesley Tylczak, "Recruitment and Retention of Volunteers in Conservation Initiatives"

1:50 pm Michael Joyce, "Selection of rest sites and reproductive dens by American marten (Martes americana) in northeastern Minnesota"

2:15 pm Lee Frelich, "Trophic cascades and temperate-boreal transition in a warming climate"


Session 2: Tools and Training for Effective Conservation

1:00 pm Kate Knuth, "Educating Graduate Students to be Environmental Leaders and Change-makers: Experiences from the Boreas Leadership Program"

1:25 pm Amanda Kueper, "Extension Forestry ‘Master Volunteer’ and other peer learning programs as a conservation tool in the private landowner community"

1:50 pm Peter Holt & Andy Holdsworth, "A Conservation Information System for Bridging the Gap between Conservation Funds Invested, Actions Taken and Outcomes Achieved"

2:15 pm Kate Knuth & Andy Holdsworth, "Social Media for Conservation Biologists"


There will also be a poster session later in the afternoon- titles and authors to be shared later.


Live outside the Twin Cities?  Participate in the 9-11 AM morning symposium via videoconference!   Email to reserve a space. 

Renowned Wildlife Biologist and Author, Carrol Henderson, to Close MN SCB Annual Meeting with a "Conservation Connections Double Header"

Carrol Henderson, founder and program supervisor of MN DNR's Nongame Wildlife Program, will close the presentation portion of the MN Society for Conservation Biology's 2013 Annual Meeting with a "conservation connections double header".  He will discuss his current project that is investigating the impacts of the Deep Horizon oil spill on loons and pelicans and then he will discuss the the "Digital Bridge to Nature Project" he has been leading for the last few years.

More about Carrol:
Carrol Henderson has been supervisor of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Nongame Wildlife Program since 1977. He has a B.S. in zoology from Iowa State University and a Master of Forest Resources degree in ecology from the University of Georgia. At Georgia he studied ecology under Dr. Eugene Odum. In 1977 he was hired to create Minnesota’s Nongame Wildlife Program and has played an instrumental role in the reintroduction of trumpeter swans, peregrine falcons, and river otters and in recovery of bald eagles and eastern bluebirds. He continues in that role to the present with projects for the management and protection of Minnesota’s nongame and endangered wildlife. Two major projects at present include the Digital Photography Bridge to Nature program for school teachers and an assessment of the impact of the Deep Horizon oil spill on Minnesota’s loons and white pelicans. He is chairman of the board for Watchable Wildlife Inc. and has promoted wildlife tourism in Texas, Mexico, Costa Rica, Manitoba, China, and eastern Russia. Carrol has led 50 birding tours to Latin America, Kenya, Tanzania, and New Zealand since 1987. He is the author of Woodworking for Wildlife, Landscaping for Wildlife, Wild About Birds: the DNR Bird Feeding Guide, Field Guide to the Wildlife of Costa Rica, Oology and Ralph's Talking Eggs, and Birds in Flight: The Art and Science of How Birds Fly. He is co-author of The Traveler’s Guide to Wildlife in Minnesota and Lakescaping for Wildlife and Water Quality. Recent books include three new field guides on the wildlife of Costa Rica.

Learn more and register for the Minnesota Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology 2013 Annual Meeting here.

TNC's Neal Feeken to Speak at MN SCB Anthropocene Symposium

Presentation Title:
Implementing the MN Prairie Conservation Plan -- The Nature Conservancy's Prairie Recovery Project 

Neal Feeken is the Prairie Recovery Project Coordinator for The Nature Conservancy of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Since joining the Conservancy in 2008 he has been working to develop market based drivers for grassland conservation by forging partnerships between industry, government and the conservation community to test and  demonstrate mechanisms for utilizing native and restored grasslands for forage and bioenergy. His previous experiences include serving as Assistant Regional Director for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and as the Manager of a local Soil and Water Conservation District in south-central Minnesota. Neal has a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife & Fisheries Science from South Dakota State University and a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University.

The other two Anthropocene symposium speakers are: 

Erle Ellis, Associate Professor of Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland (via webcast)
             Conserving Human Nature: the Anthropocene Biosphere

Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Associate Professor, UMN Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology                               Resident Fellow, UMN Institute on the Environment
          Urbanization and Plant Diversity
  
Learn more and register for the Minnesota Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology 2013 Annual Meeting here. 

MN Conservation Scientists Publish Major Paper on The Impact of Domestic Cats on Wildlife

It wasn't another cuddly cat video that's been viewed a million times on YouTube.  But it was a recently published paper about the huge impact of unrestrained cats on wildlife that generated quite a media buzz.  The paper, The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States, was published online in Nature Communications.  The first two authors have strong Minnesota conservation science connections.  Scott R. Loss recently received his Ph.D. from the UMN Conservation Biology Program.  Tom Will, is a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in  Bloomington, Minnesota.  He presented a fascinating talk (photo at right) on this topic at the 2012 MN SCB Annual Meeting.  The New York Times had a story about the paper that was it most emailed story as of this posting on January 30th.  I was amazed at how much it was shared on Facebook and tweeted as well.

Here is the abstract of the paper from Nature Communications.

The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United State 
     Scott R. Loss,Tom Will, Peter P. Marra
Anthropogenic threats, such as collisions with man-made structures, vehicles, poisoning and predation by domestic pets, combine to kill billions of wildlife annually. Free-ranging domestic cats have been introduced globally and have contributed to multiple wildlife extinctions on islands. The magnitude of mortality they cause in mainland areas remains speculative, with large-scale estimates based on non-systematic analyses and little consideration of scientific data. Here we conduct a systematic review and quantitatively estimate mortality caused by cats in the United States. We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4–3.7 billion birds and 6.9–20.7 billion mammals annually. Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality. Our findings suggest that free-ranging cats cause substantially greater wildlife mortality than previously thought and are likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals. Scientifically sound conservation and policy intervention is needed to reduce this impact.

A pdf is available through the American Bird Conservancy here.

Policy Implications?  
There are many.  National SCB Policy Director, John Fitzgerald, sent out a message to the SCB policy list serve.  He said, "Policy implications are numerous.  We have not recommended any in particular though the Wildlife Society and others have called on the Interior Department to consider options. They range from possibly recognizing cat controls as offsets for other activities likely to take birds and protected mammals to using the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to reduce practices that extend the capacities of feral cats to kill protected birds such as spay and release programs or cat feeding stations that allow cats with claws to return to the wild."