Agenda

 

What is Southeast Partners In Flight (SEPIF)?  SEPIF is the regional Partners in Flight working group for the southeast and consists of various stakeholders with a common interest in avian conservation and management.  Partners include state and federal agencies, joint ventures, universities, non-governmental organizations, industry, and other conservation groups.  The goal of these partnerships is to help keep common birds common and to help conserve species before they become imperiled.

Join the SEPIF mailing list

View the program from last year's meeting in South Carolina


What is the Adaptive Management Conference Series (AMCS)?  The Adaptive Management Conference Series (AMCS) originated in 2001 as an informal venue for discussion among a small group of natural resource managers and researchers.  Since 2001 the discussion group has grown to include over 100 scientists from federal, state, and private organizations here in the U.S. and overseas.  This community of practice meets annually to share their expertise and experience with both the theoretical and practical aspects of adaptive resource management.  Discussion topics are diverse, ranging from the computational challenges of optimal decision making, to the social and institutional barriers confronting those seeking to apply an adaptive approach to resource management.

Who should attend?  Anyone with an interest in bird conservation in the Southeast.  The conference offers a great opportunity to network with other professionals to discuss current conservation issues, including networking with the Adaptive Management group.  For students, the conference provides a great venue to meet professionals and explore career opportunities.  Additionally, stay abreast of current research by attending the paper and poster sessions and stay for the socials to discuss these findings.

Agenda:

Tues, March 9

Steering committee meeting - 8 AM - Noon

• The steering committee does more than just plan meetings. It's a vehicle to help improve bird conservation in the Southeast and beyond. For example, in response to the huge potential of internet technology to improve bird conservation, a web technology committee was formed at last year's steering committee meeting. This committee will be releasing A Field Guide to Web Technology for Bird Conservation during a workshop at this year's meeting. Anyone is welcome to attend the steering committee meeting. This year's agenda is available here.

Registration - Noon - 2 PM

Training workshops - 1 - 5 PM

• Web technology for bird conservation. The past several years have seen an explosion of new web-based tools for sharing and accessing information, creating many new opportunities for bird conservation. This workshop will provide a non-technical introduction to a variety of potentially useful web tools for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of bird conservation. Many of these tools you may have heard of (Blogs, Wikis, Twitter, eBird) while others may be new to you (Google Sites, Etherpad, Ning). A limited number of laptops will be available but we suggest you bring a laptop to participate in the hands on examples. The draft agenda is available here.

• Experimental Design. The draft agenda is available here.

Registration - 5 - 7 PM

Poster session/ Social with heavy hors d'oeuvres and cash bar - 6:30 - 10 PM 

Wed, March 10

Registration 8 - 10 AM

Overcoming Challenges to Implementing Strategic Habitat Conservation (Joint session with AMCS) - 8 AM - 5 PM

Introduction to session (Rua Mordecai, SEPIF and Fred Johnson, USGS)

Part 1: Population Modeling to Support Conservation: predicting migratory bird abundance as a function of habitat conditions

• Uncertainty in Conservation Design: Where ecological theory & empirical data collide (D. Todd Jones-Farrand, Central Hardwoods Joint Venture)

• Title TBA (Jim Nichols, USGS)

Part 2: Making conservation decisions over large spaces: when the spatial configuration of habitat matters

• Space: The Final Frontier for the Conservation Enterprise (John Tirpak, Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture)

• Title TBA (Wayne Thogmartin, USGS)

Part 3: Making conservation decisions over long time-frames: anticipating the effects of climate and other system changes

• Title TBA (Alexa McKerrow, NC State)

• Title TBA (Mike Conroy, USGS)

Part 4: Afternoon breakout session. 

• During the afternoon breakout, the larger group will be broken into smaller groups composed of SEPIF and AMCS members to discuss how to best overcome the challenges discussed in Part 1, 2, and 3.

Social/ 20^th anniversary of PIF celebration - Buses start around 6 PM

•  Please join us on Wednesday evening, March 10th at the home of Joni Ellis (Director of Optics for the Tropics) in Gainesville, FL. We will be celebrating the 20th anniversaries of both Southeast Partners in Flight and National Partners in Flight. This is a laidback, casual shindig complete with a bon fire, home cooked wild game, veggie sides,local brew and topped off by great company!  We’ll have live music (compliments of local musicians), free roaming chickens (not on the menu) and our host would be happy to give you a tour of her 20 acre homestead (divided into house, ag, and conservation areas)! Come prepared for all weather (no worries-there’s a huge, wrap-around screened porch in case anyone is made of sugar)! After a couple days at the swanky Hilton, let’s all kick back and socialize with our colleagues – lose the dress shoes, bring on the sneakers and let’s have fun! Buses will be shuttling attendees out to Joni’s place from the hotel! See you there!
  

• This year’s silent auction will be during the Wednesday evening social at Crazy Woman Farm. Hosted by SEPIF and Optics for the Tropics. Remember to bring your auction item and your checkbook! Items will be collected at registration. Proceed will support a monitoring workshop sponsored by SCSCB and Optics for the Tropics for colleagues in the Caribbean. We are providing travel funds, binoculars and a few scopes for participants of the workshop. If you wish to mail your item ahead of time; or make a cash donation in lieu of an auction item; please send them to: Optics for the Tropics, 2205 SE 23rd Place, Gainesville, FL 32641

Thurs, March 11

Contributed paper session - AM

Group lunch and speaker (Terry Rich, the National PIF Coordinator, will discuss the Tri-National Vision with a focus on Southeastern priorities) 

Field trips - PM

• San Felasco Hammock (http://www.floridastateparks.org/sanfelascohammock/) – Progress Park entrance (SR441). Mixed pine/hardwood forest with creek and open fields can be very good for migrants during fall migration.  Don't forget the $4/vehicle state park access fee. 

• Bolen Bluff Trail, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park (http://www.floridastateparks.org/Paynesprairie/Activities.cfm) One of Gainesville's perennial favorite birding locations, especially during the peak of songbird migration. The 2.6 miles long trail loops through hardwood hammock and has a spur leading to a platform that overlooks the prairie.

 

Hotel

 

A block of rooms was held at the UF Hilton Conference Center under the name 'Southeast Partners in Flight' for $93 per night. The rooms were held at that rate until February 5th.

Getting there

The conference hotel is only 8 miles from the Gainesville regional airport. If you call ahead to reserve it, the hotel also provides a free shuttle from the Gainesville airport. For more information (including driving directions and information on other nearby airports) follow the link below:

http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/GVNCCHF-Hilton-University-of-Florida-Conference-Center-Gainesville-Florida/directions.do

Registration

Thanks again to the City of Gainesville for offsetting the carbon footprint of this meeting. 

The meeting registration form is available here. Early registration ended February 15.

View abstracts

The abstracts for presentations, including links to powerpoints for oral presentations are now available below.  

You can also download a spreadsheet of all the abstracts here.

If you have further questions regarding abstracts click here. 

Experience Gainesville

Local Birding

• Links to some great local birding courtesy of Alachua Audubon are available here. If you have to pick just one place, the La Chua Trail is always an excellent choice.
• For areas outside of Alachua, there are many great spots listed on the website for the Great Florida Birding Trail

Places to eat

• A list of "green" restaurants is available here

Things to see near the hotel

• After the meeting is over, visit the Florida Museum of Natural History. It is open until 5pm weekdays and admittance is free. While you’re there, stroll through the Butterfly Rainforest and see live releases. Tickets for the Rainforest are $9.50 and the Museum is walking distance from the Hilton! This is a great way to get a brief overview of natural Florida.