Dear SWFS Members,
Welcome to the May 2022 edition of the SWFS Newsletter.
We are almost half way into the year and there have been some exciting things happening in 2022.
A few notable highlights has been the planning of the 2022 conference in Ashland, OR. Join us as the Society for Wildlife Forensic Science (SWFS) hosts its first in person conference in three years. The 2022 conference will be October 30-November 4, 2022 in Ashland, Oregon. Abstract deadlines for the conference is currently June 17th, this deadline will likely be extended as the registration for the conference will not be available until the end of May. This year we are taking submissions for both oral presentations and poster presentations via an electronic form found here. We are also taking applications for the SWFS 2022 Bob Anderson Student Scholarship. You can find the application here. This scholarship will be awarded to two college students who are studying wildlife forensic science or a related science field. The Scholarship covers the cost of registration and one banquet ticket plus $500 to help with travel. Chosen applicants are required to give a 10-15 minute presentation on their presentation abstract topic at the Society for Wildlife Forensic Science Meeting. We hope to see you in Ashland October 30th through November 4th, 2022. Registration and hotel details can be found on the SWFS website.
The end of April was the close of the first timber proficiency beta test offered by SWFS. At least ten laboratories across several countries participated in the timber test. The US Fish and Wildlife lab did the bulk of the heavy lifting to coordinate the efforts on this. The plan is to continue offering timber proficiency tests annually once the logistics of have been worked out. Additionally, SWFS plans to offer an Ivory proficiency test at the 2022 conference. This test will be in conjunction with the Ivory workshop.
Just a reminder that the Society does have a couple grant programs in place. We have the Travel Grant, the purpose of this grant is to provide support to SWFS members who are in need to visit collaborators in order to exchange knowledge and skills related to wildlife forensics. Now that travel is a bit easier, we look forward to seeing a few application come in for consideration. There is also the Small Grants, the purpose of this grant is to provide support for the development and validation of scientific methods for use in wildlife forensic casework that is not typically supported by research grants; this includes things like validations studies, ring-trails and new proficiency tests. To find more information on these grants please visit the SWFS website.
As always, I would like to extend my gratitude and thanks to all that have contributed to the SWFS Newsletter, over the course of the last two years it has become exceedingly more difficult to obtain article for the Newsletter. If you are interested in sharing news from your lab, please let us know. I would also like to thank s the production team that put this periodical together.
Best wishes
Tasha Bauman