Experiences

Submitted by Emily Hunt, Ross University

In September, I attended the International Wildlife Congress, which is a wildlife

conference that took place in Lillehammer, Norway. The conference was a collaboration

of the 37 th International Union of Wildlife Biologists, the 18 th Nordic Congress of Wildlife

Research, the 16 th Perdix symposium, an EuroMammals. It was hosted by the University

of Inland Norway.

There were many keynote and plenary speakers that I had the pleasure of attending,

but one that stood out was Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka. She is a wildlife veterinarian

from Uganda where she now runs an organization known as Conservation Through

Public Health. Her presentation focused on her work of educating the public on

conservation efforts and ways community members can contribute.

There were also many shorter small group presentations and posters throughout my

time at the conference. Attending these mini lectures has given me great insight into

putting together a scientific presentation, which is very useful for the completion of my

master’s project this semester. There was also a PhD student from the Netherlands who

presented her work studying feral cat populations. Her project is set up very similar to

mine, as we are both using camera traps and GPS collars to estimate population

numbers of feral cats.

Overall, attending this conference was a great experience for me, especially with it

being my first academic conference. I learned a lot of valuable skills that I will take into

my own work. I also made some connections that I hope could even become future

colleagues.

In September, I attended the International Wildlife Congress, which is a wildlifeconference that took place in Lillehammer, Norway. The conference was a collaborationof the 37 th International Union of Wildlife Biologists, the 18 th Nordic Congress of WildlifeResearch, the 16 th Perdix symposium, an EuroMammals. It was hosted by the Universityof Inland Norway.There were many keynote and plenary speakers that I had the pleasure of attending,but one that stood out was Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka. She is a wildlife veterinarianfrom Uganda where she now runs an organization known as Conservation ThroughPublic Health. Her presentation focused on her work of educating the public onconservation efforts and ways community members can contribute.There were also many shorter small group presentations and posters throughout mytime at the conference. Attending these mini lectures has given me great insight intoputting together a scientific presentation, which is very useful for the completion of mymaster’s project this semester. There was also a PhD student from the Netherlands whopresented her work studying feral cat populations. Her project is set up very similar tomine, as we are both using camera traps and GPS collars to estimate populationnumbers of feral cats.Overall, attending this conference was a great experience for me, especially with itbeing my first academic conference. I learned a lot of valuable skills that I will take intomy own work. I also made some connections that I hope could even become futurecolleagues.