News from Scientists at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Monday, August 29, 2005
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Prestigious Jackson award presented to Alfred Gardner Dr. Alfred Gardner, a senior mammalogist with Patuxent Wildlife Research Center’s Biological Survey Unit at the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) was presented with the prestigious Hartley H.T. Jackson award by the American Society of Mammalogists during their annual meeting in June, 2005. This award, named for one of the most influential founders of the Society and a former curator at the National Museum himself, recognizes long-term commitment to the Society. In addition to serving as the Society’s archivist for 12 years, Dr. Gardner served on a total of seven committees for a cumulative total of 79 years. He chaired the Nomenclature Committee for 7 of those years and is internationally recognized for his expertise in the exacting discipline of mammalian nomenclature. Dr. Gardner also served a total of 16 years as Society representative to the Association of Systematic Collections and the American Association of Zoological Nomenclature and was an associate editor of the Journal of Mammalogy for 2 years. Most recently he has served as associate editor for the definitive “Mammalian Species” series. Contact Marshall Howe, Laurel, MD 301-497-5858 Collection Care Curriculum On 22 August 2005, Robert Fisher of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center’s Biological Survey Unit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History gave a short presentation for a Distance Learning Collections Care Curriculum being produced by the George Washington University Museum Studies Program with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The presentation was a show and tell about a cost and space saving system designed to hold over-sized mammals skulls on a combination of fixed and mobile shelving units placed side by side so all specimens could be accessed from either side by simply moving the mobile unit away from the stationary unit. The system also uses plank shelving rather than solid, allowing for planks to be removed where need be to accommodate extra tall specimens. Contact Robert Fisher, Washington, DC, 202-357-1865
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Sea Duck Conference, November 7-11 USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC) is the host agency for the Second North American Sea Duck Conference. This international conference, sponsored by the Sea Duck Joint Venture and various federal and private organizations, is scheduled for November 7-11, 2005, at the Loews Annapolis Hotel in Annapolis, Maryland. This meeting of sea duck scientists from around the world provides a forum to exchange information about sea duck biology and management. The conference provides a stimulating environment, in which scientists may expand their scientific vision in hopes of a better understanding and conservation of sea ducks. All research disciplines dealing with sea ducks will be discussed in oral or poster presentations. Workshops will be conducted on topics including offshore wind farms, contaminants/diseases, satellite telemetry, and sea duck harvest (sport and subsistence). Tours available for the conference include Baltimore Inner Harbor (Aquarium), Historic Annapolis ( Naval Academy), and the PWRC sea duck colony. A website has been established to facilitate registration. Early registration ends on August 31. Website: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/seaduck_conf2005/ Email address: SeaDuckConf@usgs.gov, Conference Chair: Matthew C. Perry About Populations And Communities from Camera-Trap Data Allan O'Connell gave an invited presentation (co-authored with Jim Nichols, and Ulas Karanth of the Wildlife Conservation Society in India) at the 9th International Mammalogical Congress (formerly known as the Theriological Congress) in Sapporo, Japan (July 31-August 5) titled " Inferences About Populations And Communities from Camera-Trap Data" as part of the Symposium on the Use of Remote Camera Methods in Ecological Studies of Mammals. The presentation focused on the sampling and monitoring of wildlife populations as an integral component of either science or management programs and used two examples to explain how inferences can be made: 1) identification of individual tigers in India to estimate population size and associated vital rates like survival and reproduction and 2) use of presence-absence data to estimate site occupancy and detectability for medium-sized and large mammals as a means of developing a long-term monitoring program in U.S. National Parks. Contact Allan O’Connell, Laurel, MD, 301-497-5525 |
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