Day 3 Session SummaryJune 11 - Managers and Lab Scientists Meeting DAY 3
Goal for the Day: To agree on how (i.e., activities, surveys, research) state and federal agencies can contribute to determining the cause(s) of WNS. The key outcomes are defining what each group (Lab scientists vs. managers) can do to support each other in determining the cause of WNS.
8:00 am Summary of Managers and Lab Scientists Meeting (Paul Cryan, USGS and Scott Darling, VFWD)
8:45 am Facilitated discussion of priority needs (e.g., research, data, and sampling) broken down into manageable components
12:00 pm LUNCH
1:00 pm Funding needs and opportunities (Susi von Oettingen, USFWS and Lisa Williams, PAGC)
Items from the "parking lot"
* Summary of funding opportunities
* Committee formation
2:00 pm Closing Remarks and Next Action Items (TBA at Evening Meeting)
2:30 pm ADJOURN
White Nose Syndrome
Science Strategy Conference
June 9-11, 2008
Albany, NY
The third and final day of the WNS Conference was devoted to synthesizing the work of the two groups on Tuesday the researchers and the managers. Both groups had defined prioritized work plans, but needed to see how the work of each fit into their own in terms of timetables and how the field work would feed in to the laboratory investigations.
The discussion also included setting up a bunch of task forces to deal with things like coordinating media outreach, funding, revising protocols on decontamination, developing a field diagnostic for WNS, developing protocols on sample collection and sharing, and an immediate need for finalizing a scoring system for grading wing degradation in bats found in summer maternity and roosting colonies.
As the NSS Liaison on WNS, I was included in the task forces on communications, funding, and decontamination especially for cavers. This latter point has been a hot topic of discussion, as many in the caving community have raised questions about the efficacy of some of the protocols.
Certainly, the possible spread of WNS by humans both cavers and researchers cannot be ruled out yet, especially because of the manners in which fungi may be spread. There remains a high level of concern that WNS not be allowed to take hold in other parts of the country, potentially affecting other species or continuing to damage other colonies of the endangered Indiana bat.
A lot of time was spent discussing potential funding sources, mostly various federal grants. Unfortunately, most of these funds have priorities that were set by Congress over a year ago, so there is a time lag in getting WNS elevated in the national funding streams. That said, one grant of rollover funds for up to $50,000 was due on Friday, and a subcommittee at lunch and then the entire conference gave input so that an application could be submitted. Hopefully, this will enable a lot of the monitoring equipment needed for the winter to be obtained and put in place in a timely manner.
The next major source of government funds is a multi-state grant due in December, with funds released in 2009. This could be the foundation for a comprehensive effort involving all levels of the investigation. In addition, private fundraising was discussed and will be pursued, as these funds have the potential to be more quickly available, and with less restrictions. Bat Conservation International and the North American Center for Bat Research at Indiana University already have established funds, and we will look into establishing a WNS-specific fund within the NSS or National Speleological Foundation.
Peter Youngbaer