SUNDAY WORKSHOP: WNS disease ecology seminar and surveillance sample collection training workshop

SUNDAY WORKSHOP (9am-1pm) Update: We have reduced the price of this workshop; if you paid the full price, we will issue you a refund in GDL. This workshop will foster a common understanding of disease epidemiology, surveillance strategies, sampling techniques, diagnostic interpretation, and biosecurity recommendations for WNS and Pd through didactic lectures followed by hands-on training. We aim to share current information about the disease ecology and management of white-nose syndrome (WNS) and its causative fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), and to provide detailed training on field sample collection techniques for WNS/Pd surveillance. Technical training will include simulations for collecting bat skin swabs, wing punch biopsies, environmental samples, and pooled guano samples as well as conducting UV screening and decontamination of field gear. The target audience is field biologists, scientists, resource managers, and students that may be participating in surveillance efforts for Pd in the environment and on bats, particularly for work being conducted in Mexico and other Latin American countries. With the continued spread of the fungus into southern Texas and New Mexico, along the Mexico-U.S. border, there is an increasing need to conduct WNS/Pd surveillance in Mexico.