2022 Illinois Chapter of The Wildlife Society Conference

We just wrapped up the Annual Meeting of Illinois Chapter of The Wildlife Society (4/10 – 4/12). Besides the oral and poster presentations given by the students and wildlife professionals, we also held the workshop on the Google Earth Engine. Besides myself, Andrew Stokes, Adam Eckert, and Frances Whalen from Ting Lab also attended the meeting this year.
 
For the first time ever for the Ting Lab, our students captured the first prize in both oral and poster presentation categories for the student awards. Specifically, Andrew received the first prize for his oral presentation based on his thesis work (population viability analysis for the osprey populations in our hacking program). Adam was awarded the first prize for his poster presentation based on his graduate project on habitat suitability modeling for siting nest platforms for ospreys. The competition was stiff given the large number of student presenters this year. 
 
Frances also gave a poster presentation based on her first season of field data on the survival of wintering American Kestrels. Although Frances’ poster was not selected (not surprising because her study is ongoing), I have heard compliments about Frances’ work, including those from one of the judges.
 
In short, I just wanted to share some great news about our students so congratulations to Andrew, Adam, and Frances!