Workshops

ALL WORKSHOPS WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 10 JUNE, AFTERNOON.

Workshop 1: Advancing Herpetofaunal Biosecurity through Bridging Research and Communication

Organizers:

Jenna N Palmisano¹, Angela Julian², Corinna M Hazelrig³, Lisa Shender⁴, David Lee Haskins⁵, Ellen Haynes³, Colby Wells⁶, Michelle Christman⁷

¹University of Central Florida; Jenna.Palmisano@ucf.edu

²Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK), Oxford, UK

³Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, University of Georgia; corinna.hazelrig@uga.edu, ellen.haynes@uga.edu

⁴National Park Service, lisa_shender@nps.gov

⁵EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC; dhaskins@eaest.com

⁶Colorado Parks & Wildlife; colby.wells@state.co.us

⁷U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; michelle_christman@fws.gov

Description: The first half of the workshop will highlight research gaps in amphibian and reptile pathogen biosecurity guidelines and set priorities for research action. The second half of the workshop will focus on how best to promote and communicate practical biosecurity guidance to policy makers, practitioners, contractors, community scientists, the trade and pet keeping sectors, and the wider public. Insights gathered during the workshop will help us develop more impactful biosecurity guidelines with improved adoption of practical solutions across different audiences, thereby leading to enhanced disease prevention and management.

Available online = Yes, Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation will be hosting this workshop and will provide a link for virtual participation.

Workshop 2: Collaborative Research in the Amphibian and Reptile Trade: identifying areas of interest to promote healthy and sustainable trade practices.

Organizers:

Danielle J. Galvin^1,2, Matthew J. Gray^1,2, and Zach Brinks³

¹School of Natural Resources, University of Tennessee, dgalvin2@utk.edu, mgray11@utk.edu

²Healthy Trade Institute, Knoxville, TN USA, dgalvin@healthytrade.org, mgray@healthytrade.org

³Josh’s Frogs, Owosso, MI USA, zach@joshsfrogs.com

Description: The first half of the workshop will provide an overview of ongoing topics for discussion regarding partnerships between scientists and industry professionals in the amphibian and reptile pet trade. This overview includes presentations from the Healthy Trade Institute and Josh’s Frogs regarding their partnership including the successes, pitfalls, and lessons learned from a pathogen outbreak within a major amphibian breeding facility. The second half of the workshop will be facilitated group discussions to identify areas of interest for future collaborative research at the intersection of industry and science on topics including pathogen diagnostics and prevalence, industry- and breeding facility-specific concerns, and ethics of the amphibian and reptile pet trade (i.e. legal/illegal trade, breeding genetics linked to neurological issues). The goal of this workshop is to produce an article for a pet trade magazine highlighting paths for collaborations between science and industry members identified through this workshop.

Available online = Yes, a Zoom link will be provided by the organizers.

Workshop 3: Applied Infectious Disease Modeling in Amphibians: A Hands-On Workshop

Organizers:

Angela Peace¹, MD Mihrab Chowdhury²

¹Virginia Tech, angelapeace@vt.edu

²Virginia Tech, mohammc@vt.edu

Description: This workshop will provide an introduction to mathematical models of infectious diseases with a focus on dynamical systems approaches, particularly systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) applied to amphibian populations. Participants will learn core concepts in mathematical epidemiology, including model development, parameterization, and analysis. The workshop will combine short lectures with hands-on breakout sessions where participants will work individually or in small groups using provided sample code in R. Activities will include model development and coding, numerical simulation of ODEs, and parameterization and model fitting techniques. No prior mathematical modeling experience is required, but some prior coding experience is recommended. Introductory materials on scientific computing and R setup will be provided in advance of the workshop.

Available online = No.

Participant Requirements: Participants should bring a laptop to the workshop.

Workshop 4: Decision-Science Tools: Bsal Detection Scenario Planning

Credit: McEachran et al. 2024

Organizers:

Alexa R. Warwick¹, Evan Grant², Molly Bletz³, Jonah Piovia-Scott⁴, Michelle Christman⁵

¹Michigan State University; awarwick@msu.edu

²USGS Eastern Ecological Research Center; ehgrant@usgs.gov

³Penn State University; molly.bletz@psu.edu

⁴Washington State University, Vancouver; jonah.piovia-scott@wsu.edu

⁵U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; michelle_christman@fws.gov

Description: Decision analysis offers a structured way to break down complex decisions and provides tools for formal decision-making. Often, the greatest challenge is not building models or making predictions but clearly defining the decision problem. Misunderstanding the problem can lead to ineffective solutions and missed conservation goals. We will lead participants in how to frame decision problems and apply this approach to addressing Bsal and other amphibian disease threats.

Available online = Yes, the organizers will provide a link.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EVENT, CONTACT MATT GRAY, MGRAY11@UTK.EDU