| Awards and Outreach | -> | ABS Symposia 2000 |
Three special sessions are planned for the 37th annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society at Morehouse College and Zoo Atlanta: a symposium on dispersal, a series of talks comparing the behavior of primates and cetaceans, and a symposium focusing on applied animal behavior. There will also be a panel discussion by science journalists with practical suggestions on how to increase publicity of animal behavior research. There will also be a special image display at the meeting.
The symposium titled Dispersal Behavior: Variation in Movement Patterns and Decisions, organized by Veronica Doerr at the University of Nevada-Reno and Australian National University, will focus on the important behaviors which link the juvenile and adult stages of an animalŐs life. Dispersal, the movement of juvenile organisms from their place of birth to their first adult breeding range, is the least understood of all life history stages. Yet because it links the stages of juvenile survival and adult reproduction, dispersal has far- reaching consequences for population distribution, population genetics, and a speciesŐ sensitivity to habitat fragmentation. Researchers interested in the genetics of populations have traditionally focused on the consequences of dispersal, and have greatly simplified the behavior of individuals. Recent research by behavioral biologists, however, suggests that, at least in vertebrates, different individuals may use very different tactics to search for and acquire breeding positions. Thus, we really need to understand the ecological and genetic causes of this individual variation if we hope to understand the causes of and variation in the resulting population-level patterns. Therefore, the goals of this symposium are twofold: 1) to unite researchers studying vertebrate dispersal at both individual and population levels, and 2) to introduce this broader, multidisciplinary approach to the larger scientific community. Invited speakers will discuss the historical development of research on dispersal behavior, recent empirical studies of individual movement tactics, methods for quantifying movement tactics, variation between the sexes, population-level variation and modeling, habitat selection, and colony size choice. This broader approach to dispersal, with an explicit focus on variation, should lead to greater collaboration and communication between behaviorists and other biologists, a more complete understanding of the ecological process of dispersal, and more realistic population models that can serve as better tools for predicting population persistence and managing fragmented habitats and corridors.
The two sessions of the applied animal behavior symposium are organized by Dr. John Wright of Mercer University. The first, titled Learning Theory: Applications in animal management and husbandry will feature presentation on such diverse topics as the application of learning theory in laboratory animals to medicine, training captive-born animals for introduction into the wild, and avoidance learning in companion animals. The second session will be open to the general public, and it will focus on issues of interest to many peopleŃsuch as the behavior of pets, and the conservation efforts by Zoo Atlanta on behalf of animals such as the beloved giant pandas.
Dr. Lori Marino, from Emory University, has organized a symposium titled Comparisons between Primates and Cetaceans.
Beyond the Wild Kingdom: Media Insight on Reporting Animal Behavior Research,” will be a lively panel discussion on how to enhance interactions between animal behaviorists and the science media on Monday, 7 Aug. from 7 - 9pm. The five science journalists will talk about different aspects of science journalism and what they need to cover your research, followed by a question-answer period.
There will also be a special image display at the meeting. Photographs and other artwork that represent animals, behavior, or methodology will be displayed during the meeting, and they will later be added to the ABS website for use as a teaching resource. This is one way that the Animal Behavior Society is making use of technology to facilitate the work of its members.