2012 Spring Meeting Workshops
WORKSHOPS (Friday, 27 January)
CATFISH SAMPLING WORKSHOP (full day)
Instructors: Various members of the SDAFS Catfish Management Technical Committee and the NCDAFS Ictalurid Technical Committee
Cost: $40 for Professionals/ $15 for Students
Date: 8 am-5 pm
Max number of participants: 35
Description: Workshop participants will learn about
current sampling methods for blue, channel, and flathead catfish in
various habitats (e.g. small impoundment, reservoir, inland and tidal
rivers). For each sampling gear, we will cover equipment setup,
field methods, site selection, and sample size. Also included
will be sections on current tagging and telemetry techniques. A
wrap-up session will discuss gear bias and research needs relative to
improving catfish sampling methodology. The workshop will include
a field trip to a local tidal river to set and run gear as well as
lunch off-site.
Target Audience: State and federal Fisheries Biologists, Fisheries Researchers, and students who plan to sample catfishes or are interested in a career with a state or federal agency.
Background required: None
Cover Letters and Resumes: How to put your best foot forward in the job search (half day; student interest).
Instructor: Ed McGinley, WV Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit,
West Virginia University
Cost: Free to registered participants.
Date/Time: 1:30-5pm
Max number of participants: 45
Description: Cover letters and resumes are important in any job search. This workshop will cover how to construct an effective cover letter and resume and include tips on the job search and interviewing from 1:30-3:00 pm and a Q&A session with professionals from 3:30-5 pm.
Target Audience: This workshop is aimed at students and anyone involved in the job hunt.
Background required: None, but feel free to bring a copy of your cover letter or resume to be critiqued.
Telemetry/tagging techniques and sonar sensing/habitat assessment technologies (full day)
Facilitators: Allyse Ferrara/Lee Holt/Lindsey Lewis.
Cost: $30 for professionals / $15 for students
Time: 8:00 am-5 pm
Max number of participants: 55
Description: The goal of this workshop is to provide a convenient and less distracted environment for researchers to be introduced to, and become familiar with, advancements of multiple telemetry/tagging gear types and sonar sensing and habitat assessment technologies. Vendors from various companies will be in attendance to present information and discuss their products. This workshop will provide an excellent opportunity for fisheries professionals to interact with vendors and to discuss specific research needs by utilizing the most recent technological advancements in fisheries monitoring.
Target Audience: This workshop is aimed at students and professionals interested in general tagging approaches and is coordinated by the Alligator Gar Technical Committee.
Background required: None.
Mapping Aquatic Habitat using Low-Cost Side Scan Sonar and GIS (full day)
Instructors: Adam J. Kaeser, 850-769-0552 ext. 244, adam_kaeser@fws.gov and
Thomas L. Litts, 770-761-3014, thom.litts@dnr.state.ga.us. U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service & Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Cost: Student $75; Member $100; Non-member $150.
Date/Time: 8:00 am-5 pm
Max number of participants: 55
Session I
Introduction to side scan sonar and image interpretation.
Session II
Mission planning & execution (capturing and working with sonar
data).
Session
III
Image processing in ArcGIS (practical demonstration).
Session IV Habitat map development & applications.
A need exists within the natural resource community for an
inexpensive and rapid technique to map and quantify aquatic habitat
features in navigable waterways. The Humminbird® Side Imaging system
allows users to quickly capture high-resolution, geo-spatially
referenced images of underwater habitat. Unlike more expensive
side scan systems, the Humminbird® system employs a boat mounted
transducer that allows for the survey of shallow, rocky environments.
We have developed a technique utilizing ArcGIS 9.x and 10 to transform
Humminbird® images into georeferenced sonar image maps (SIMS).
These maps show underwater habitat in a spatial context and can be used
within a GIS to map, measure and quantify features such as rocky areas,
large woody debris and areas of fine sediment (sand/mud). The
potential fisheries applications for such detailed habitat maps are
numerous and widespread, and the tools and techniques to develop such
maps are just now within reach natural resource professionals and their
agencies/ institutions.
*Workbook provided. PowerPoint presentations, demonstration
datasets and processing tools will be made available to all
participants.
Target Audience: Natural resource professionals interested in aquatic habitat.
Background required: Basic understanding of GIS is helpful, but not required.
VEMCO Underwater Acoustic Telelemetry Workshop (full day)
Instructor: Dr. Richard Vallee, VP Sales, VEMCO, Richard.vallee@vemco.com
Date/Time: 8:00 am-5 pm
Cost: Free to registered participants
Max number of participants: 55
VEMCO staff will discuss several detailed technical issues related to passive and active acoustic technology and will provide the user with the necessary tools to effectively use the equipment. Potential topics include: understanding single frequency telemetry, equipment overview and representative deployments, detection performance and range limits, Vemco User Environment (VUE) software, analyzing and removing false detections, VR2W Positioning System (VPS), and future product directions. Participants are encouraged to help us explore problems regarding deployment methods, experimental design, identification of unknown codes, data management, handling and analysis.
Target Audience: This workshop is aimed at students and professionals interested in
specific Vemco procedures and operations.
Background required: None.
Leadership at All Levels (half day)
Instructor: Dr. Steve McMullin, College of Natural Resources & Environmental Leadership Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Date/Time: 8:00 am – noon
Cost: Free to registered participants
Max number of participants: 55
Description: Leadership in an all-volunteer organization like AFS requires special skills. This workshop introduces participants to leadership in AFS and is taught by experienced AFS leaders. Topics addressed include structure and function of AFS units, getting the most out of volunteers, hot to achieve your goals as an AFS leader, and how to run an effective AFS meeting.
Target Audience: This workshop is aimed at students and professionals in a leadership position of any kind in AFS at any level or people who may one day hold one of these positions.
Background required: None.
Recording and Producing Podcasts of PowerPoint Presentation Using Camtasia Studio 7.1 (half day; student interest)
Instructor: Greg Summers, Director, Oklahoma Fishery Research Laboratory, Oklahoma Dept of Wildlife Conservation.
Cost: Free to registered participants.
Date/Time: 8 am – Noon
Max number of participants: 32
Description: Workshop participants will learn the basics of how to record and produce podcasts in several different output formats for web and/or personal viewing. Each participant will be required to bring a laptop computer to the workshop. Each participant will be given a fully functional, 30-day trial copy of Camtasia Studio 7.1 provided by the software manufacturer (TechSmith) that will be loaded onto their laptop and used during the workshop. This is the same software that the SDAFS uses for producing the Spring Meeting podcasts. Training PowerPoint presentations will be recorded and then participants will use different methods of editing and producing these recording into various output formats (AVI, Flash, MPEG, MP4, et al) with different viewing options (web, YouTube, iPhone, iPad, iPod, DVD ready, et al ).
Target Audience: This workshop is aimed at students and professionals interested in
Podcast procedures.
Background required: None. Must bring laptop computer to workshop
Workshop information can be obtained from Tom Holman (tomh@mdwfp.state.ms.us).