Science Symposium 2016

Join us for our annual Science Symposium Saturday August 6th at 1pm

1 pm Keynote Speaker 
Dr. Barbara Han, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
"Identifying Potential Reservoirs and Vectors of Human Disease"
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The majority of emerging infectious diseases that affect humans originate in mammalian reservoirs and use blood-sucking insects as vectors for transfer from mammals to humans. There are thousands of species of mammals and blood-sucking insects but only some species are good vectors or reservoirs for human disease. Barbara Han has used computer models and global datasets to identify the characteristics of a good vector or reservoir species and identify species that are most likely to transmit undiscovered diseases. In this talk, she will discuss how considering these animal-based diseases from an ecological perspective contributes to a better understanding of the potential risk that infectious diseases may have in particular regions.


​2 pm Research Talks 
Dr. Carmen Greenwood and Dr. Amy Quinn
"Can the Federally Endangered American Burying Beetle (ABB) be Reintroduced to New York? Examining Habitat Suitability and Host Availability in the Huyck Biological Preserve"

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SUNY Cobleskill student researchers are conducting a multi-tiered assessment of site suitability in central New York for a potential reintroduction of the federally endangered American Burying Beetle (ABB).  An evaluation of existing burying beetle communities within the Huyck Preserve and availability the of small mammal hosts they require indicate that eastern mixed forests may provide favorable habitat for ABB.


3 pm Wine and Cheese Student Poster Presentations
Come support young scientists! The high school students from the Wildlife Ecology Research program and the undergraduate Odum interns will present their research projects in a poster session. They've been working hard for many weeks on their field research, so please come show your support for them!
Topics to be presented include:

• Small mammal use of old stone walls
• Behaviors of invasive and hybrid crayfish
• Preferences in hunting location of the American toad and Woodhouse's toad
  
• Oriental Bittersweet and its effects on birds
  
• Do Red Efts exhibit homing behavior?
  
• Predicting Crayfish populations in Huyck Preserve rivers and streams
  
• The effects of increased abundance of earthworms on salamander diet
  
•  Health of ground-foraging and tree-foraging warbler species
  
• Predicting salamander abundance based on environmental factors
  

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