Urban Wildlife Ecology & Management:

An International Symposium on

Urban Wildlife & the Environment

 

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

June 21-24, 2009


 

Program Highlights

 

Registering/Checking In for the Conference

The registration desk where you can sign in and pick up conference materials will be available before and during the Sunday evening social, beginning 4:00 p.m., on the 10th floor of the Campus Center. For those giving oral presentations, you can also receive assistance downloading your PowerPoint talks onto conference laptops.

 

The registration desk will also be available on Monday morning, beginning at 7:00 a.m., on the first floor (lower level) of the Campus Center. You will also have an opportunity to download your PowerPoint talks at that time as well.

 

After that, you can register for the conference and pick up conference materials at the Conference Services Registration Office on the 9th floor of the Campus Center.

 

 

Plenary Session

The plenary session will take place on Monday morning, June 22, and will feature talks and discussions from some of the major participants in the realm of urban ecology. We are pleased to announce that the following speakers have agreed to share their extensive research, experience, and knowledge of urban ecology:

 

Dr. Richard T. T. Forman is a Professor of Advanced Environmental Studies in Landscape Ecology at Harvard University.  He is a Member of the Graduate School of Design, Associate of The Harvard Forest, and Associate of the Harvard University Center for the Environment.  He received the bachelors degree at Haverford College and Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania.  His primary scholarly interest is linking science with spatial pattern to interweave nature and people on the land.  Often considered to be a “father” of landscape ecology and also of road ecology, he plays a key scholarly role in the emergence of urban-region ecology and planning.  Other research interests include conservation, changing land mosaics, land-use planning, and uses of the patch-corridor-matrix model in diverse fields. You can review more of Dr. Forman's background HERE.

 

Dr. James Miller is an Assistant Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Miller's research focuses on providing a scientific basis for reconciling human land use and the conservation of native species. He received his Ph.D. in Ecology from Colorado State University in 1999. Among his many publications are papers on habitat restoration and acquisition, landscape design, conservation of biodiversity, and the response of animal communities (particularly birds but also anurans and invertebrates) in urban environments. You can review more of Dr. Miller's background HERE.

 

Michael Feller is the Deputy Chief of the City of New York Parks and Recreation Natural Resources Group, the department's in-house environmental consultants. Mike is responsible for environmental review of public works, inventory of flora and fauna, and development and oversight of ecological management and restoration projects throughout the park system's more than 12,000 acres of forest, wetlands, and meadows. Mike grew up along the Jamaica Bay shoreline and has lived in the city his entire life, except for the six years he spent studying biology and anthropology at SUNY, Albany, NY. He is also a nature photographer whose work has been featured in The New York Times, The Conservationist, Brooklyn Bridge, and Universum, among other publications. This spring marks the beginning of his 18th year as a Park's Department naturalist. You can review more on Mr. Feller HERE.

 

 

Concurrent Sessions/Poster Session

During Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning and afternoon, and Wednesday morning and afternoon there will be oral presentations in 16 different sessions. Posters will be displayed during Tuesday. The program schedule is available HERE.

 

 

Field Trips

Several field trips to areas in Massachusetts are offered during Sunday, June 21, before the conference convenes. Trips to choose from include a visit to Boston to see urban wildlife research and conservation in a major metropolitan area; Springfield, Mass. to see an urban forest, open spaces, and wildlife in a growing city; the Quabbin Watershed, which is a major water source for Boston and its suburbs; the sand plains of the Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area; and naturalist trips within the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Register for a field trip on the conference registration page. See more detail HERE.

 

 

Conference Social and Icebreaker

During Sunday evening, June 21, there will be a social in the Amherst Room on the 10th floor of the Campus Center with food and a cash bar.

 

 

Banquet

A buffet-style banquet will take place in the Marriott Center on the 11th floor of the Campus Center during Tuesday evening, June 23. Cash bar opens at 6:00 p.m., food is served at 7:00 p.m.

 

Contact Information