Conference Overview

Conference Registration Rates
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Regular Member: $75
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Student Member: $50
Notes:
A one-year membership (or one-year extension) is included in the regular member rate.
Student Registration Grants are also available.
Please login to obtain member registration rates.
Venue
We are excited to be working with Whova to offer you the best virtual conference! Here are some of the features we are planning for:
- Pre-recorded sessions that you can view at your leisure throughout the week
- Live Q&A sessions with presenters to get into the nitty gritty about your favourite topic
- Poster sessions
- Social events
- Various networking opportunities
- Live panel discussions
The conference will be available on your phone, computer, tablet from wherever you are with a high speed internet connection
Keynote Speaker
We are overjoyed to welcome Naomi Owen-Beek from the Salteau First Nations to speak about the Creation of the Klinse Za Maternal Pen. Caribou maternity pens have been discussed in several jurisdictions as a potential tool for caribou recovery. Naomi will discuss the Caribou Recovery Plan developed by Dr. Scott McNay, the Saulteau First Nations, and West Moberly First Nations Elders. Their goal for a stable population of 1000 caribou is a laudable one and their recovery plan contains objectives around predator management, habitat restoration, and a caribou maternal pen. Naomi will discuss the first maternal pen from planning to construction. Her presentation will discuss community involvement in the capturing and collaring of caribou, as well as the long-term monitoring and the development of a caribou guardians program.
Conference Program
The complete conference program is available above, but here are the concurrent sessions we’ve got planned for March 18:
- Landscape disturbance
- The birds and the bears
- Methods in wildlife research and monitoring
- Ungulates
- Creatures of the night
- Grasslands
- Wildlife Disease
We’ve also got two panel discussions with pre-recorded presentations available for conference participants:
- Human-wildlife conflict
- Social science research and considerations in wildlife management
Conference Week Agenda
Although the main conference is on March 18, we’ve got events all week leading up to the big day. All of the below events are free to attend, even if you’re not attending the main conference on the 18th.
Committee Meetings
Full information and links to register.
Monday March 14 – Education and Outreach Committee (12-1pm)
Tuesday March 15 – Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (1145am – 115pm)
Wednesday March 16 – Conservation Affairs Committee (1145a – 115pm)
Networking Events
Tuesday March 15 – Student and Pros Happy Hour (4-5pm). This is a great time to pick the brains of your fellow wildlifers for career advice and perspective. Whether you’re a pro or a student, we can all learn from each other. Sign up by emailing our student director, Phil, at [email protected].
Wednesday March 16 – Wildlife Jeopardy (7-8pm). Show off your mad wildlife skills and have a little fun. Grab a glass of your favourite beverage and your wildlife friends for an hour of wildlife trivia designed to pick your brain, make you laugh, and help you meet new people. Register here.
Annual General Meeting and Awards Ceremony
March 17, 4:30pm – 6:30pm
Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) is open to everyone with an interest in hearing what we’ve been up to in 2021 and what we have planned for 2022. This year, we’ll complete our AGM with our professional and student awards ceremony. Details here.
Public talk and live auction
March 17, 7:30pm – 9:00 pm
Each year, we host a public talk that shares cutting edge research about Alberta wildlife. This year, we are so happy to have Dr. Jason Fisher sharing decades worth of work about wolverines from around the world. We know so little about wolverines and what we need to do to conserve them – or do we? Join us to find out!
This year, we’re also featuring Matt Besko in a live auction to kick start the evening. Matt will be auctioning off a trip exploring an Alberta trapline, two day passes for the Canmore folk festival, and a surprise item that will get you gleefully opening your wallets! All funds raised from the auction go towards student awards, supporting the next generation of wildlifers in Alberta.
Details and registration link here.
Friday, 13 March
0900 – 2100
Field Trip
Workshops
Annual General Meeting
Student Conclave
Opening Mixer
Saturday, 14 March
0900 – 2400
Opening Ceremony
Plenary Session
Keynote Address
Concurrent Sessions
Poster Session
Banquet & Auction
Awards & Dancing
Sunday, 15 March
0900 – 1600
Concurrent Sessions
Student Awards
Closing Ceremony
Abstract Submission
You are invited to submit titles and abstracts for oral presentations, speed talks, and posters at the 2022 Conference of The Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society. Presentations on all aspects of wildlife are welcome including ecology, management, research, monitoring, species biology, genetics, and new techniques.
The four types of presentations offered are:
- Traditional oral presentations – 12 minutes in length + 3 minutes for questions. Abstracts will be grouped into common themes and placed into concurrent sessions.
- Pre-recorded presentations (12 minutes) with discussion (1 hour) – Abstracts will be grouped into common themes. Presentation recordings will be shared through the conference platform 2 weeks prior to the conference. At the conference, a one hour Q&A with all authors from a theme will engage conference attendees in broader discussion.
- Speed talks – 4 minutes in length. Speed talks will be delivered in person at the conference and added to concurrent sessions.
- Poster – A poster session will be hosted on one day in the afternoon/evening for all conference participants.
Monetary prizes are awarded for all types of presentations, graduate posters, and undergraduate posters.
The Call for Abstracts is now closed.
Plenary Speakers
Symposium
The role that hunting, trapping, and fishing can play in helping us understand wildlife movements and conservation
Online Auction
opportunities that our online auction provides. The online auction will run from March 14 to 18 and will be open to the public. Funds raised go
towards student awards and ACTWS operations. As always, the auction is bound to be a conference highlight and offer great opportunities for
members to connect (and compete) for great prizes.
Public Talk
The ACTWS will be hosting a public talk in Camrose the evening of March 17
Details to be announced.
Sponsors

Awards
The ACTWS annually administers four professional awards and three student scholarships, as well as conference subsidy awards.
There are still Student Registration Grants (link to student registration grants) to attend the conference if you are a student and require financial assistance.