January 2020 Volume 62, Number 1 Katherine Edwards, Editor
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The Wildlife Society SOUTHEASTERN SECTION JANUARY 2020 VOLUME 62, NUMBER 1 KATHERINE EDWARDS, EDITOR PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS together and tackling some major conservation challenges during this decade. I also believe 2020, we made it! We began the 2010s with the TWS can serve as the hub of our group effort, big bang of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill fol- facilitating communication among members, lowed by the rise and fall of annual mean tem- and encouraging partnerships. peratures, the first total solar eclipse in North America since President Woodrow Wilson, the As part of this belief, I would like to remind you end of NASA’s Space Shuttle era, and the rise of that we, the Executive Board of the Southeast- the iPhone with the phase out of the Blackberry. ern Section of The Wildlife Society are here to Meanwhile, we continued to observe rapid urban serve you, our membership. Reach out, contact expansion, wildlife habitat loss and degradation, us, contact your fellow members, however you exotic species explosions, species loss and the feel it’s best to get your question addressed or continued pattern of information overload de- to start your research and management team to spite substantial knowledge gaps. So, what can smite a current conservation challenge. Second, we do about it! let’s try to improve our communication as a Sec- tion. We can converse face-to-face, email, call, I’m only an elected member of a subunit of The Tweet, Instagram, Snapchat, DM, etc. However, Wildlife Society! So, for the love of wild places we often fail to communicate. We can do bet- and things, don’t solely rely on me. After all, com- ter. Open your office door, walk down the hall, plex problems can be best addressed by innova- call an old colleague and get relationships roll- tive problem solving, which requires teamwork. ing and avoid miscommunications. Let us, your Considering we as a profession are embedded in Executive Board, know how you feel about our science, I think it’s safe to assume we appreciate the process of gaining reliable knowledge and its application to problem solving. However, all In This Issue too often we enjoy our little bubbles whether they are as small as our office space or only slightly President’s Address 1 larger such as our office building, state, or re- SE Section Representative Report 3 gion. We enjoy these safe, comfortable spaces Committee Reports 4 and are often encouraged to focus locally, espe- State Reports 7 cially on ourselves and individual or small group Business 20 accomplishments, to succeed in this competi- Awards and Recognition 23 tive field. Unfortunately, if we have such blinders Nominations 34 on, we can be suddenly overwhelmed by larger Professional Development 36 scale processes and events such as CWD, ex- Meetings of Interest 37 otic species, and climate change. I think we can Member Application 38 do better about keeping the blinders off, working current communication approaches, most often either in person or virtually. We discussed these newsletters. Could we better serve you many items including proposed bylaw changes via hosting a blog or Twitter handle? Last, throw and committee updates. We also mentioned procrastination out the window this year. We all our upcoming field course. Students...get your procrastinate to some extent whether we are di- learning on at the first SE Section Field Course rectly avoiding a responsibility or letting minor at The Jones Center at Itchauway May 26 – distractions retard completing important tasks. All June 10. Please check out the flyer in this the while, deadlines remain fixed, exotic species newsletter and sign up now!! Space is limited keep expanding, and our calendars continue ad- for a wonderful opportunity to gain hands-on vancing. Let’s start this decade with a productive experience and college credit at a great price. bang that will benefit the conservation and man- Other meetings his year include The Wildlife agement of the wild places and things we love!! Society’s Annual Conference in Louisville, KY, September 27- October 1 (https://wildlife. Last but not least, a few housekeeping items. org/2020-conference/), and the SEAFWA An- Congratulations to all award winners last year! nual Conference in Springfield, MO, October Recognition for your outstanding work is not only 25-28 (http://www.seafwa.org/conference/). fitting for what you have accomplished but also See you soon!! motivates your peers and mentees. Congratula- tions again! Also, thank you to everyone who at- Raymond Iglay tended our annual meeting in Hilton Head, SC, President, Southeastern Section TWS Pixabay 2 SOUTHEASTERN SECTION REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT Colleagues, will be able to attend. The call for proposals is currently open and will close March 13. The By all accounts our 26th Annual Conference call for abstracts will open February 19 and ex- was a great success. This joint meeting be- tend through April 17. tween The Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society was a record-breaking meet- Please remind students who are interested in ing in terms of attendance and provided excel- wildlife or natural resources management that lent networking and educational opportunities. there will be a SETWS Sponsored wildlife field Several TWS members from the Southeast re- course offered May 26 – June 10 this year. ceived awards. Dr. Alan Wentz received the The course will be held at the Jones Center Aldo Leopold Award. We also added two new at Ichauway in southwestern Georgia and will TWS Fellows from the Southeast: Colleen focus on applied field techniques. The course Olfenbuttel from the North Carolina Wildlife will provide three hours of undergraduate or Resources Commission, and Dr. Lisa Muller graduate credits, room, and board for $1,500. from the University of Tennessee. Please be Further, several State Chapters are offering sure to congratulate them. scholarships to pay for part or all of the cost. Interested students should contact Daniel We have more TWS members living in the Greene at [email protected] for further Southeastern Section than in any other TWS information. section. In my opinion, we should have some- one, or some group, from the Southeast nomi- I hope you all had a great Holiday Season and nated for every TWS award. Please take the that you are enjoying the start of a new decade. opportunity to visit the TWS website, look at the As always, thanks for your efforts in managing awards offered by our Society, and consider our wildlife resources and thank you for your nominating colleagues. The nomination dead- continued membership and participation in The lines for many awards is rapidly approaching. I Wildlife Society. am happy to help if needed. Mike Conner The 27th annual meeting will take place Sept. Southeastern Section Representative 27 – Oct. 1 in Louisville, Kentucky. I hope you all [email protected] Pixabay 3 COMMITTEE REPORTS DEER COMMITTEE STUDENT AWARDS COMMITTEE Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting The following awards were presented at the 73rd Annual Conference of the Southeastern The 43rd Annual Meeting of the Southeast Deer Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Hilton Head, SC. Study Group, hosted by the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, will be held Student Presentation Award at The Hotel at Auburn University & Dixon Con- ference Center in Auburn, AL, February 23-25, There were 14 student oral presentations dur- 2020. The theme of this year’s meeting will be ing the Wildlife Technical Sessions at SEAFWA. “Deer Management in a Rapidly Changing World The winning presentation was given by Ryo - Bridging a Generational Disconnect”. Ogawa from Mississippi State University for his presentation entitled, “Movement Strategies The Southeast Deer Study Group provides an of American White Pelicans During the Annual important forum for researchers and managers Cycle”. He was recognized at the SEAFWA ban- to share the latest research results, manage- quet with a certificate and monetary award. ment strategies and discussions that can facili- tate the timely identification of, and solutions to, Student Poster Award problems relative to the management of white- tailed deer. More information and registration There were 7 student posters presented at can be found at sedsg.com. SEAFWA with a wildlife biology theme. The win- ning poster was presented by Briana Stewart Committee Chair: Steve Shea from Auburn University for her poster entitled, [email protected] “Automated Techniques for Interpreting Game Camera Images from Surveys for Eastern Wild Turkeys”. She was recognized at the SEAFWA PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE banquet with a certificate and monetary award. Best Paper Award Student Chapter Award Ten manuscripts were published in the 2018 Student chapters in the SETWS were evaluated Journal of Southeastern Association of Fish and by independent judges on an overall application Wildlife Agencies. The committee selected as package including professionalism and involve- the winner of the SEAFWA 2019 Outstanding ment in research, education, management, Wildlife Technical Paper Award: Schummer, stewardship, and outreach to name a few cate- M.L., A.M. Smith, R.M. Kaminski, K.M. Hunt, gories. This year, the University of Tennessee at E. St. James, and H. Havens “Achievement- Martin Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society Oriented Effects on Waterfowl-Hunt Quality at was recognized as the Student Chapter of the Mississippi Wildlife Management Areas.” Year for their outstanding service to their mem- bers and SETWS. Committee Chair: Lora Smith Committee Chair: Andy Madison [email protected] [email protected] COMMITTEE REPORTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 4 COMMITTEE REPORTS C.W. WATSON AWARD COMMITTEE For many of these students, it was their first time attending a professional conference. Once stu- dents arrived, they participated in the MINRC C.W. Watson Award Student Workshop which introduced soft skills such as networking, elevator speeches, resume The C.W.