Conference Agenda
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| WEDNESDAY | Wednesday, March 28, 2018 |
| 7:00am-7:50am | Morning Beverages, Registration, Poster and Exhibit Setup |
| 7:50am-8:10am | Welcome from Conference Organizers |
| 8:10am-9:00am |
Keynote
Speaker Jack Payne, UF/IFAS Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| 9:00am-10:30am |
GENERAL SESSION: Water Quality and Indian River Lagoon Session Chair: Duane De Freese, Executive Director, Indian River Lagoon Council |
| 9:00am | Duane De Freese, Indian River Lagoon Council Water Quality Monitoring for the Indian River Lagoon - Challenges and Opportunities Ahead View PDF |
| 9:15am |
Charles Jacoby, St. Johns River Water Management District Indian River Lagoon: Perfect Storm or New Norm View PDF |
| 9:30am |
Sam Rossman, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute Historical Ecological Context Reveals Insights into the 2013 Bottlenose Dolphin Unusual Mortality Event and Legacy of Nutrient Loading View PDF |
| 9:45am |
Spencer Fire, Florida Institute of Technology That Tingling Sensation Means It's Working: Saxitoxin in Indian River Lagoon Dolphins View PDF |
| 10:00am |
Megan Stolen, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute Understanding the Health and Population Status of North American River Otters: The Other IRL "Marine Mammal" View PDF |
| 10:15am |
Katie Tripp, Save the Manatee Club Next Generation Restoration of the Rose Bay Watershed View PDF |
| 10:30am-10:45am | Refreshments and Networking Break in Poster/Exhibit Room |
| 10:45am-12:45pm |
GENERAL SESSION: Health Assessments Session Chairs: Martine deWit, Veterinarian, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Craig Pelton, Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, Aquatic Animal Health Program, University of Florida |
| 10:45am |
Robert Bonde, U.S. Geological Survey Health Assessment on the Florida Manatee: What Have We Learned and Where Are We Going? |
| 11:15am |
Nicole Stacy, University of Florida Manatee Health Assessment Blood Samples: Key Information for Long-Term Monitoring and Understanding Population Health |
| 11:30am |
Elizabeth Burgess, New England Aquarium Developing Non-Invasive Biomarkers to Monitor Threats to Florida Manatees View PDF |
| 11:45am |
Randall Wells, Chicago Zoological Society Longitudinal Bottlenose Dolphin Health Assessment and Population Monitoring in Sarasota Bay, Florida View PDF |
| 12noon |
Michael Walsh, University of Florida Cetacean Field Imaging Enhancement for Health Assessment of Wild Small Cetaceans Utilizing a Portable Wireless Radiographic Plate, Multiuse Work Station Pad and Unique Bucky System |
| 12:15pm |
Craig Pelton, University of Florida The Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin Health and Environmental Risk Assessment Project from the Southeastern USA: 2003-2015 View PDF |
| 12:45pm-2:15pm | Lunch Provided at SeaWorld |
| 2:15pm-3:45pm |
GENERAL SESSION: Infectious Diseases, Toxoplasmosis and Zoonotic Diseases Session Chairs: Thaís C.S. Rodrigues, Postdoctoral Researcher, Wildlife and Aquatic Veterinary Diseases Laboratory, University of Florida and Thomas Waltzek, Research Coordinator and Assistant Professor, Aquatic Animal Health Program, University of Florida |
| 2:15pm |
Thaís C. S. Rodrigues, University of Florida Characterization of a Novel Pegivirus in Indian River Lagoon Bottlenose Dolphins View PDF |
| 2:30pm |
Thaís C. S. Rodrigues, University of Florida Characterization of Potentially Oncogenic Viruses in Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Tumor Tissues View PDF |
| 2:45pm |
Thomas Waltzek, University of Florida Phylogenomic Diversity of Northern Hemisphere Cetacean Morbilliviruses |
| 3:00pm |
Miriam Marmontel, Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development Pathological Survey of Pulmonary Disease in Free-Ranging Brazilian River Dolphins View PDF |
| 3:15pm |
Nelmarie Landrau-Giovannetti, University of Florida Characterization of a Novel Circovirus from a Stranded Longman's Beaked Whale (Indopacetus pacificus) View PDF |
| 3:30pm |
Adam Schaefer, Florida Atlantic University Temporal Evaluation of Antibiotic Resistance from Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), a Sentinel Species View PDF |
| 4:00pm-5:00pm | Poster Session |
| THURSDAY | Thursday, March 29, 2018 |
| 7:00am-8:00am | Morning Beverages and Registration |
| 8:00am-9:40am |
GENERAL SESSION: Monitoring Health
in Marine Mammals Moderator: Iske Larkin, Lecturer, Education Coordinator, and Interim Director, Aquatic Animal Health Program, University of Florida |
| 8:00am | Brandon Bassett, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission External Watercraft-Related Wound Types in the Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) View PDF |
| 8:20am |
Nicola Erdsack, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium Nostril Temperature as Indicator for Body Temperature – Using Infrared Thermography as a Diagnostic Tool in Florida Manatees |
| 8:40am | Jonathan Cowart, University of Florida What is Normal? Establishing Baseline Data for Reproductive Parameters in Male Florida Manatees |
| 9:00am |
Jessie Stevens, Florida Atlantic University Novel "Tiger Stripe" Condition in Free-Ranging Bottlenose Dolphins |
| 9:20am |
Michelle Greenfield, Princeton University Effect of Anthropogenic Injuries on the Social Associations of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Sarasota Bay, Florida |
| 9:40am-10:00am | Refreshments and Networking Break in Poster/Exhibit Room |
| 10:00am-11:45am |
GENERAL SESSION: Education Session Chairs: Gordon Bauer, Experimental Psychologist, New College of Florida and Iske Larkin, Lecturer, Education Coordinator, and Interim Director, Aquatic Animal Health Program, University of Florida |
| 10:00am | Gordon Bauer, New College of Florida Marine Mammal Education: Overcoming Cognitive Bias View PDF |
| 10:15am | Frank Alcock, New College of Florida Climate Change: World Views, Political Attitudes and Implications for Environmental Education View PDF |
| 10:30am |
Heidi Harley, New College of Florida Educating the Public About Other Minds: Dolphin Cognition Research as a Window to Science and Other Animals |
| 10:45am | Teri Bolton, Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences Pre-Departure Technology Enhanced Instruction Fosters Deep Learning During an International Study Abroad Course and Service Learning Internships at the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences, Honduras View PDF |
| 11:00am | Heather Maness, University of Florida Assessment of the Preparation of Aquatic Animal Health Veterinarians for Entry-Level Positions |
| 11:30am |
Iske Larkin, University of Florida |
| 11:45am-1:15pm | Lunch Provided at SeaWorld |
| 1:15pm-3:35pm |
GENERAL SESSION: Biosurveillance and Molecular Techniques Session Chairs: Nancy Denslow, Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida and Margaret Hunter, Research Geneticist, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey |
| 1:15pm |
Nathan Clark, University of Pittsburgh Ancient Convergent Losses of the Paraoxonase 1 Gene Could Render Marine Mammals Susceptible to Organophosphate Pesticides View PDF |
| 1:40pm |
John Bowden, National Institute of Standards and Technology Perfluoroalkyl Acids (PFAAs) in Plasma of the West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) View PDF |
| 2:05pm |
Maite De Maria, University of Florida Biomarker Development for Manatee Health Assessments View PDF |
| 2:20pm |
Chelsea Acres, University of Charleston Evaluating Skin Disease in Bottlenose Dolphins of Brunswick and Sapelo Island, Georgia |
| 2:35pm |
Julia Zaias, University of Miami Molecular Characterization of Cetacean Skin - Laying the Foundation to Develop Cutaneous Biomarkers View PDF |
| 2:50pm |
Breanna Breaux, Texas A&M University The Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) T Cell Receptor Loci Exhibit V Segment Locus Synteny and Chain-Specific Evolution View PDF |
| 3:05pm |
Jason Ferrante, U.S. Geological Survey Use of Quantitative PCR Assays to Measure Immune Function Gene Expression in Cold Stressed Florida Manatees |
| 3:20pm |
Margaret Hunter, U.S. Geological Survey Investigating Manatee Taxonomic Relationships Using High-Throughput Genotyping-by-Sequencing SNP Data |
| 7:30pm-9:30pm | Social at Sea Life Aquarium |
| FRIDAY | Friday, March 30, 2018 |
| 7:00am-8:00am | Morning Beverages and Registration |
| 8:00am-10:00am |
GENERAL SESSION: Entanglement and Rescue-Rehabilitation: Program Techniques and Response Session Chairs: Claire Erlacher-Reid, Veterinarian, SeaWorld Orlando and Michael Walsh, Clinical Coordinator and Clinical Associate Professor, Aquatic Animal Health Program, University of Florida |
| 8:00am |
Wendy Noke Durden, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute Evaluating Intervention Success and Survival of Free-Swimming Dolphins Along the East Central Coast of Florida (2007-2017) |
| 8:20am |
Lara Croft, SeaWorld Orlando Cetacean Rescue and Rehabilitation at SeaWorld |
| 8:40am | Claire Erlacher-Reid, SeaWorld Orlando Manatee Medicine in a Rehabilitation Setting at SeaWorld |
| 9:00am |
Craig Pelton, University of Florida Small Cetacean Entanglement View PDF |
| 9:20am |
Clay George, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Large Whale Disentanglement: Saving North Atlantic Right Whales, One Entangled Whale at a Time View PDF |
| 9:40am |
Claire Erlacher-Reid, SeaWorld Orlando Manatee Entanglement |
| 10:00am-10:15am | Refreshments and Networking Break in Poster/Exhibit Room |
| 10:15am-12noon | PRE-PANEL SHORT TOPICS: Wild Marine Mammal Intervention and Conservation – Challenges, Funding and Future Directions |
| 10:15am | Erin Fougeres, National Marine Fisheries Service An Overview of the Marine Mammal Stranding Response Program in the Southeast U.S. View PDF |
| 10:30am | Robert Bonde, U.S. Geological Survey USGS - Manatee Conservation - Goals for the Future |
| 10:45am | Leslie Ward, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Manatee and Right Whale Programs |
| 11:00am | Pat Rose, Save the Manatee Club Downlisting and Conservation Challenges |
| 11:15am | Randall Wells, Chicago Zoological Society Long-Term Research and Conservation Programs - Value and Challenges View PDF |
| 11:30am | Michael Walsh, University of Florida Integration, Collaboration, Partnering and Synergy: Biologist, Field Scientist and Wildlife Veterinarians Working Toward Long-Term Conservation Programs |
| 11:45am | Jim Valade, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Managing Wild Marine Mammal Programs |
| 12noon-1:30pm | Lunch Provided at SeaWorld |
| 1:30pm-3:15pm | Interactive Panel Discussion |
| 3:15pm-3:30pm | Conference Closing Remarks |
| 3:30pm | Conference Concludes |
View Speaker Presentations View Abstract Compilation View Photo Album
Upcoming Deadlines
Hotel Reservation Deadline
March 5, 2018
Regular Registration Deadline
March 26, 2018
