MWPARC is hosting two pre-conference workshops on Friday, 7 November, from 2-5 pm.
Student cost is $25 and Professional cost is $35. Click here for workshop registration. Registration for the full weekend is not required.

Workshop 1: Community outreach project development: How to develop and implement conservation projects in your community.
Led by: Dr. Nicole Palenske Ladner (Department of Natural Sciences, Central College) and Dreux Watermolen (Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources)
Are you interested in learning more about how to educate your community by studying herps in their natural environment? Join our workshop to explore how you can study live animals in both education and community outreach. We will explore Community Citizen Science development and explore ways that you could try to implement projects in your community. Feel free to bring your laptop, though it’s not required. We’ll provide some worksheets on how you could create a project of your own.

Workshop 2: Getting started with ecological niche modeling/species distribution modeling
Led by: Dr. Mona Papes, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee
The development of GIS tools with applications in ecology and evolution has enabled new research avenues. Ecological niche modeling (ENM) used to investigate species’ geographic distributions has generated much interest in the past couple of decades. This workshop will introduce participants to the theoretical aspects of ENM and data inputs in modeling algorithms and will include a demonstration of one modeling algorithm (Maxent). The workshop will close with a discussion about the uses and limitations of model outputs (potential distribution maps) to address questions related to species’ ecology, conservation, and biogeography.

You can register for these workshops from the KHS webstore.