Meetings

The 2022 MW PARC conference will be held 

September 9 - 11 at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, MI.

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Register for the conference via our Square site!

Registration deadline: August 5

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Check out our agenda and lodging options!

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Have herp-themed items? Consider donating them to the silent auction! Funds will help support future scholarships and meetings.

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Are you planning on attending the MW PARC conference, and do you identify as a member of a racialized minority? Check out the PARC Increasing Participation Award (PIPA)!

Our 2022 logo was designed by Faith Kuzma.

Thanks, Faith!

Purchase the logo on swag here!

2022 Meeting Agenda

Stay tuned for the full program with abstracts! All times are in US Eastern.

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Friday (September 9th)

• Afternoon

  • Field trip at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute​ (PCCI)

  • Pre-field trip lunch provided by PCCI (or bring your own)

• Evening

  • Social and silent auction

  • Registration​

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Saturday (September 10th)

• Session 1: Welcome and plenary

  • 8:45 AM. Welcome and Introductions. 

  • 9:00 AM. PARC/MWPARC Updates and Announcements.

  • 9:15 AM. Jacqueline Litzgus. Plenary talk.

• Break: 10 - 10:15 AM​

• Session 2: Tracking Turtles in Michigan​

  • 10:15 AM. Diana Methner. Wood Turtle Spatial Ecology and Use of Recently Restored Oak-Savanna Habitat.

  • 10:30 AM. Bria Spalding. Analysis of nesting movements in Blanding’s Turtles and Wood Turtles using resistance landscape models.

  • 10:45 AM. Elizabeth Cubberley. Habitat Use of Blanding's Turtles and Wood Turtles in Michigan.

  • 11:00 AM. Trish Brockman. She’s Going the Distance: Wood Turtle Movement on a Managed Forest Landscape.

• Session 3: Genetics​

  • 11:15 AM. Caleb Krueger. A range-wide genomic dataset for spotted turtle conservation.​

  • 11:30 AM. Mark Jordan. Conservation Genetics of Blanding’s Turtle in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.

• Lunch and Posters: 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM​

• Session 4: State Updates 12:45 PM

• Session 5: Partners in PARC​​

  • 1:15 PM. Matt Cross. A Model for Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in Conservation: A Case Study Using Rare Turtles.

  • 1:30 PM. David A. Mifsud. The Michigan Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy (MARC): Education, Stewardship and Conservation of Michigan's Amphibians and Reptiles.

• Session 6: Demographics

  • 1:45 PM. Dan Thompson. What 27 years of head-starting Blanding's turtles has taught us and done for our populations.

  • 2:00 PM. Michael Rhode. Population demographics of Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

• Break: 2:15 - 2:30 PM​

• Session 7: Occupancy and Landscape Modeling

  • 2:30 PM. Dan Earl. Blanding’s Turtle Occupancy and Abundance in the Lake Erie Watershed in Michigan and Ohio.​

  • 2:45 PM. Melissa B. Youngquist. Long-term monitoring of the enigmatic cricket frog in Ohio.

  • 3:00 PM. Eric McCluskey. Where will the turtle cross the road?

• Session 8: Natural History

  • 3:15 PM. Katy Greenwald. Do common species eat common prey? Dietary diversity of rare vs. abundant snake species.

  • 3:30 PM. Thomas Anderson. Life history traits of ringed and marbled salamanders in response to hydroperiod variation.

  • 3:45 PM. Michael Lannoo. The Value of Old-Timey Natural History.

• Break: 4:00 PM (transition to workshop)

• Session 9: ADHriFT Workshop. Megan Seymour. 4 - 5 PM.

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Sunday (September 11th)

• Morning - Task teams and working groups

  • Crawfish Frog Task Team​

  • Outreach and Communications Task Team

  • MW PARC, Recovering America's Wildlife Act, & Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need Disucssion Group

• Afternoon​

  • Lunch on your own

  • Explore the Zoo on your own

Lodging Options in Grand Rapids, MI

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Hotel reservations

​MWPARC has reserved a block of 20 rooms at the Holiday Inn Grand Rapids Downtown. Rooms include two queen beds and can be reserved for Sept 9-11 (2 nights) for $125/night + taxes.

Click here to make your reservation!

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Camping options

​Interested in enjoying the outdoors while at the conference? Check out the Wabasis Lake Campground!

PARC Increasing Participation Award - Travel Award!​

​Up to $500 is available to support applicants to attend the MWPARC conference. This includes mentorship and at-meeting support. For more details, including eligibility criteria, click here!

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This opportunity is provided by the PARC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Team

(Twitter: @herpetALLogy)

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Application form: https://tinyurl.com/PIPA2022

Deadline: 10 August 2022