5th Annual WNS Symposium June 4-7

[PYoungbaer]

The 5th Annual White-Nose Syndrome Symposium will take place this coming week, June 4-7, 2012, in Madison, Wisconsin

The stated theme is to advance WNS research and management through communication, facilitated discussion, and collaboration.

Below is a very abridged agenda. Jennifer Foote will be representing the NSS on the newly-formed Stakeholder Group, and I will be presenting as part of a panel on Wednesday afternoon making recommendations on changes to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Caving Advisory. USFWS is putting forth five options for a revised caving advisory - see details on the panel and session below.

Monday June 4, 2012
Registration and evening reception hosted by Wisconsin DNR

Tuesday June 5, 2012

8:00am – 8:45am Welcome and Opening Remarks

Dr. David Clausen, Chair of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board
Tom Melius, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 3 Director

Arthur "Butch" Blazer, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment

Keynote address: Gabriela Chavarria, Science Advisor to the Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Meeting Overview


WNS Status and Response Updates

8:45am – WNS: Disease and spread overview, National Plan update Jeremy Coleman, USFWS

8:55am – Working Group Updates
Communications and Outreach Ann Froschauer, FWS
Data Management Laura Ellison, USGS
Diagnostics Anne Ballmann, USGS
Disease Management Alan Hicks, Vesper LLC
Epidemiological and Ecological Research Sybill Amelon, USFS
Disease Surveillance Eric Britzke, DoD
Conservation and Recovery Becky Ewing, USFS

9:30am – Federal Agency Updates
National Park Service Kevin Castle
Forest Service Thomas Schmidt
Bureau of Land Management Sally Butts
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service TBD – Refuges
Department of Defense TBD
9:50am – 10:05am Break

Regional Updates

10:05am Carl Herzog and Rick Reynolds
Epicenter

10:25am – Chris Dobony
White-nose syndrome: Lessons learned at Fort Drum Military Installation

10:40am TBD
Leading Edge

10:55 – Angie McIntire
What do western bats do in winter? Implications for WNS risk assessment and response planning in the west

11:10am Ted Leighton
Canada

11:25am – 11:40am – Q&A / Discussion

Ecology of Geomyces destructans
1:00pm – Brent Sewall
Large-scale analysis of correlates of bat susceptibility to white-nose syndrome and consequences for bat communities

1:15pm – Winifred Frick
Transmission dynamics of Geomyces destructans – what we’re learning and why it matters

1:30pm – Kate Langwig
Seasonal Patterns in infection Prevalence of Geomyces destructans

1:45pm – David Blehert
What is more common in bat hibernacula than bats? Geomyces!

2:00pm – Jeffrey Lorch
Geographic distribution and environmental persistence of the pathogenic bat fungus, Geomyces destructans, in the United States

2:15pm – Vishnu Chaturvedi
Identifying the natural habitat of Geomyces destructans, the etiologic agent of bat geomycosis (WNS)

2:30pm – Hazel Barton
The physiology of Geomyces destructans

2:45pm – 3:00pm – Q &A / Discussion

3:00pm – 3:15pm Break

Epidemiology Research
3:15pm – Maarten Vonhof
Using phylogeography to understand the spread of white-nose syndrome in Myotis lucifugus

3:30pm – Amy Russell
From phylogeography to multispecies genetic landscapes: A case study of Perimyotis subflavus and an argument for collaboration

3:45pm – James Turner
Metabolic and hygric aspects of Geomyces destructans infection in experimentally inoculated Myotis lucifugus

4:00pm – Craig Willis
University of Winnipeg Update: Field studies of free-ranging bats marked with PIT tags and laboratory data addressing the effect of relative humidity on pathogenicity of Geomyces destructions

4:20pm – Daniel Lindner
Problems and possibilities of DNA-based detection of Geomyces destructans: Do multi-copy genes give us too much of a good thing?

4:35pm – Jeff Foster
The origin and spread of Geomyces destructans in North America

4:50pm – 5:00pm – Q&A / Discussion

Europe
5:00pm – Sebastien Puechmaille
Predicting the potential distribution of Gd in North America and Eurasia using ecological niche modeling

5:15pm – Natalia Martinkova
Ecology of geomycosis in central Europe

5:30pm – Gudrun Wibbelt
To be or not be breached – do we need to re-assess our understanding of Gd lesions?

5:45pm – 6:00pm – Q &A / Discussion

6:00pm – 8:00pm – Executive and Steering Committee Dinner (closed meeting) (Stakeholder Group invited)

Evening Session
7:30pm – 9:30pm
Poster Session
Photography Workshop – Ryan vonLinden, NYDEC
WNS Communications – Ann Froschauer, USFWS
Additional meeting rooms available as needed (Genetics Group, Competitive SWG States, etc)

Wednesday June 6, 2012

Disease Surveillance and Diagnostics
8:00am – Paul Cryan
Lights, camera, action: Behaviors of hibernating bats before and after WNS revealed by surveillance video

8:15am – Anne Ballmann
Update on Diagnostic Submissions to the North American WNS Laboratory Network

8:30am – TBD


8:45am – Kevin Keel
The use of tissue explants as an alternative for experimental infections of bats in white-nose syndrome research

9:00am – Kevin Drees
Highly Sensitive qPCR assay for the detection of Geomyces destructans in biological and environmental samples

9:15am – 9:30am – Q &A / Discussion

9:30am – 9:45am Break

Disease Management and Conservation & Recovery

9:45am – DeeAnn Reeder
Surviving WNS: Differences in susceptibility and results of treatment trials

10:05am – Alison Robbins
Enhancing survival of WNS infected bats; Update on antifungal treatment trials

10:20am – Marcy Souza
Efficacy of a terbinafine impregnated subcutaneous implant in the prevention of disease development

10:35am – Benjamin Stading
Potential vaccine vector for White-Nose Syndrome and other bat diseases

10:50am – Sybill Amelon
Population viability analysis of an endangered species: Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis)

10:50am – 11:05am – Q &A / Discussion

National Wildlife Health Center Tours
Tours scheduled for 1:30pm, 3:30pm, or 5:30pm, pre-registration required

U.S. Forest Service Center for Forest Mycology Research Tours
Tours scheduled for 1:30pm or 3:30pm, pre-registration required


Working Group Meetings

12:30pm – 2:00pm – Concurrent Working Group Meetings – open attendance

Data Management
Ecology, Etiology, and Epidemiology
Conservation and Recovery
Diagnostics
Disease Management
Communications and Land Managers

2:00pm – Joint Working Group Meeting to discuss overlapping themes
Data Management; Ecology, Etiology, and Epidemiology; Conservation and Recovery; and Diagnostics

2:45pm – 3:00 pm Break


Human Transmission and Cave Management

3:00pm – 6:00pm – Brief presentations and panel discussion.
WNS Symposium FWS Cave Advisory Session
Facilitators: Paul Barrett, Jessica Hogrefe
Purpose: To provide a forum for stakeholder and partner input on revision of the FWS Cave Advisory.
Explain FWS objectives for the Cave Advisory and potential revision
Interpretation of FWS conclusions on the scientific information that supports the Cave Advisory
Obtain input on alternatives for revising the Cave Advisory

The science and support for managing the spread of WNS
Panel: “The science on G.d., WNS, and disease transmission.”
Presentations:
Nancy Keller (Univ. of Wisconsin) Fungal life history, life cycles, and characteristics lending to human mediated transmission
David Blehert (USGS) State of knowledge re: Geomyces destructans
Colin Gillin (Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife) Standards for wildlife disease response
Jeremy Coleman (USFWS) Knowledge and assumptions behind managing cave access
Q/A session

Alternatives for managing cave access
FWS proposed Cave Advisory Alternatives, Consequences (Jeremy Coleman) (USFWS has put forth 5 alternatives for panelists to address, all of which include decon everywhere, every time, closing of hibernacula during hibernation, and deon procedures at show caves. The alternatives range from a nationwide one-year moratorium on all caving to the lifting of the moratorium but banning U.S.gear from leaving the country. In between include continuing the current advisory for affected and adjacent states, and an option of lifting the advisory in saturated zones).

Panel: “Perspectives on management of human activity in hibernacula in the face of WNS.”
Presentations:
Mollie Matteson (Center for Biological Diversity) The Need for Cave Closures on Western Federal Lands to Prevent the Spread of White-Nose Syndrome
Peter Youngbaer (National Speleological Society) Cave Closures - One size does not fit all
Greg Turner (Pennsylvania Game Commission) State perspective on hibernacula management: The saturation zone
Dave Redell (Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources) State perspective on hibernacula management: the leading edge of infection
Rita Dixon (Idaho Dept. Fish & Game) State perspective on hibernacula management: the remote yet susceptible west
Q/A session (panel, audience)

Facilitated discussion of and comment on proposed alternatives (All)

FWS closing statements, decision making plans, timeline (FWS)

Evening Session
7:30pm- 8:30pm Concurrent State Planning Sessions

State Planning Session, Region 5 – Christina Kocer
State Planning Session, Region 4 – Mike Armstrong
State Planning Session, Region 3 – Rich Geboy
State Planning Session, Region 2 and 6 – Paul Barrett and Chris Servheen
State Planning Session, Region 8 and 1 – Don Campton and Damian Higgins
Canada Planning Session – TBD
Europe Planning Session – TBD


Thursday June 7, 2012

National Wildlife Health Center and Tours
Tours scheduled for 1:30pm or 3:30pm, pre-registration required

U.S. Forest Service Center for Forest Mycology Research Tours
Tours scheduled for 1:30pm or 3:30pm, pre-registration required

Population Monitoring

8:00am – 11:00am – Susan Loeb/Population Monitoring Sub-group
Population Monitoring Workshop Summary and introduction to the session

9:30am – 9:45am Break

Other Topics
8:00am – 11:00am – Other topics TBD

Discussion and Meeting Wrap-up
11:00am – 12:00pm – TBD

Poster Presentations
Don Campton, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Pacific Northwest Interagency White-Nose Syndrome Response Plan

Ed Heske, Illinois Natural History Survey
White-nose Syndrome and Illinois Bat Hibernacula

Alan Hicks, Vesper LLC.
NEED TITLE

Tom Ingersoll
Has white-nose syndrome been underreported?

Amanda Janicki, University of Tennessee
Swabbing Bats to Determine the Prevalence of Geomyces destructans

Catherine Johnson, US Forest Service
Using long-term mist-netting to assess the impact of White-Nose Syndrome on summer bat populations

Allen Kurta, Eastern Michigan University
Hibernacula of Bats in Michigan

Natalia Martinkova, Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Republic
White-nose syndrome diagnosis in Europe

Marianne Moore, Bucknell University
Immunological responses to Geomyces destructans in experimentally infected little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus)

Evan Pannkuk, Arkansas State University
Biochemical analysis of Geomyces proteases to understand putative function in pathogenicity of White-Nose Syndrome

Mary Parkin, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Analysis of alternative captive bat management strategies in response to White-Nose Syndrome

Lisa Powers, University of Illinois
Wing damage patterns of North American bats: Indicators of white-nose syndrome survival?

Thomas J. Rodhouse, National Park Service
Assessing status and trend of bat populations at broad geographic scales with dynamic distribution models

Michael Schirmacher, Bat Conservation International
The effect of White-nose Syndrome on bat activity patterns for two winters across Pennsylvania.

Wayne Thogmartin, United States Geological Survey
Small population consequences of white-nose syndrome: a sensitivity analysis

Karen Vanderwolf, New Brunswick Museum
Ectomycota associated with hibernating bats in Eastern Canadian caves after the emergence of White-Nose Syndrome

Michelle Verant , USGS-National Wildlife Health Center
Temperature-dependent variation in growth of Geomyces destructans

US Fish and Wildlife Service 2012 WNS RFP award recipient posters:

Anne Ballmann, USGS National Wildlife Health Center; David Blehert; Carol Meteyer; and Robin Russel
Assessing the risk of Geomyces destructans transmission by bats that occupy contaminated hibernacula in late summer

David S. Blehert, USGS National Wildlife Health Center; Michelle L. Verant; Jonathan Epstein; and Kevin Olival Characterization of climatic parameters within bat hibernacula, their influence on environmental loads of Geomyces destructans, and implications for the mitigation of white-nose syndrome in bats

Vishnu Chaturvedi, New York State Department of Health; and Sudha Chaturvedi
Fungal Biocontrol Agents for Alleviation or Remediation of Geomyces destructans

Winifred F. Frick, University of California, Santa Cruz; A. Marm Kilpatrick; Craig K.R. Willis; and Jeffrey T. Foster
Antifungal skin microbes as tools for WNS management

DeeAnn Reeder, Bucknell University; and Ken Field
Understanding WNS Survivors: Exploring Resilience and Resistance to Variable Levels of Geomyces destructans Exposure in Context of Mitigation and Conservation

Maarten J. Vonhof, Western Michigan University; Timothy C. Carter; and M. Kevin Keel
Test of Biocompatible, Biodegradable, Widely Available and Inexpensive Anti-Fungal Agent on the Growth of G. destructans, the Causative Agent of White-Nose Syndrome, on Experimentally Infected Bats Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions

Craig Willis, University of Winnipeg; Trent K. Bollinger; Paul Cryan; Winifred F. Frick; A. Marm Kilpatrick; Vikram misra; and Gudrun Wibbelt
Laboratory Studies of Host-Pathogen Interactions between Geomyces destructans and Bats

[John Lovaas]

Hi Peter-

I am registered. and plan to be there for most/all of the event- don't know that I'll make it to the reception tomorrow night.

[steven.millett]

I'm actually in madison for the week but didn't realize this was going on. Good luck Peter, I see Mollie M. is giving a presenation.

[wyandottecaver]

"Jeremy Coleman (USFWS) Knowledge and assumptions behind managing cave access"

"Alternatives for managing cave access
FWS proposed Cave Advisory Alternatives, Consequences (Jeremy Coleman) (USFWS has put forth 5 alternatives for panelists to address, all of which include decon everywhere, every time, closing of hibernacula during hibernation, and deon procedures at show caves. The alternatives range from a nationwide one-year moratorium on all caving to the lifting of the moratorium but banning U.S.gear from leaving the country. In between include continuing the current advisory for affected and adjacent states, and an option of lifting the advisory in saturated zones)."

Anyone else find this funny? We already have plenty of examples to show that they cant enforce ANY of these options........

[NZcaver]

I find it funny. And silly. And largely a waste of time and effort.

I know, I know... call me jaded.

[PYoungbaer]

Steve Millett - Stop by the Madison Concourse Hotel if you can for some of the proceedings or just to chat. Ask at the front desk for the WNS Symposium.

NZ - Jaded? You? C'mon.

[PYoungbaer]

Wyandotte - exactly. The practical runs headlong into their ideal, as we told them it would from the start. We'll tell them again. Hopefully, a reality check for them on some level.

[tncaver]

I find it funny. And silly. And largely a waste of time and effort.

I know, I know... call me jaded.

You left off waste of money. Tax payer money.

[Pippin]

Wyandotte, what are you talking about, a one year moratorium on caving everywhere in the country is soooooo practical and would totally work (cough). Peter, be sure to tell the panel that we found a shotgun shell in a cave that was closed to protect bats from WNS. NSS/SCCi members stayed out, but evidently people who thought it would be cool to shoot a gun in a cave didn't. Hmmm. I guess deconned, responsible cavers are more dangerous to bats than shotgun blasts.

I'm jaded too!

[steven.millett]

I'll come by wednesday afternoon for the cave acess discussions (and Peter's presentation). Gonna stay away from the downtown madison today, I'm sure its pretty crazy with the recall election happening.

[steven.millett]

Hey Peter,

I give you alot of credit for supporting caving and the NSS at this symposium. The discussion today was pretty interesting, all sorts of views from different people. There were certainly some that understand nothing about caves, caver's or even bats beyond what they've read about and it must be very difficult being significantly out numbered by them.

I was happy to see that the US F&W does really seem receptive towards everyone's views and will be using input from "stakeholders" for their upcoming decision.

You were talking with one of the anti-caving people after the conference so I didn't want to disturb you.

See you back in the northeast!


Steve

[PYoungbaer]

Hi, Steve!

Didn't see you in the audience - you should have grabbed me! Thanks for kind words.

These are pretty intense and very full conferences, and you caught the real interactive session - perhaps the most of the entire week. Most of the first two days was filled with scientific presentations on bats, Geomyces destructans, surveillance data, and updates from around the country and Europe - basically information sharing, but the leading edge of the WNS science, so fascinating and informative. It's where everyone realizes the limits of what we currently know and don't know, and hypothesizes about what may happen next.

The early afternoon and evening was filled with breakout sessions of the WNS National Plan working groups, and then regional planning groups. These are the grind sessions, where folks try to set priorities and get specific about next tasks.

The networking is very good, as it's very important to build relationships, and its always nice to see the NSS acknowledged as a key funder of research during the presentations.

Going out to Cave of the Mounds tomorrow morning with the owner, who is one of the Wisconsin cavers I had the pleasure of dining with last night - just a quick dose of underground while I'm here, but it's all the fix I can fit in this time around.

See you back in New England,

[wyandottecaver]

Steve,

the USFWS is always eager and receptive to input. It shows everyone they are "involving" stakeholders. They just generally never USE any of it when it comes time for action. The WNS National Plan, Mortality Estimates, etc etc. Hopefully this will be different.

[steven.millett]

It was interesting seening Mollie M. give her new recommended plan for WNS. Basically she said:

1) Lots of bats have died
2) The bats will continue to die
3) We need to do something to stop this
4) All caves and mines (except for some) need to be closed to prevent the disease from speading any faster than it already is.

I guess she was making some sort of attempt to appease cavers, and at least moved in the write direction.

I hope one of the attentees at this discussion took notes, it'd be a good thing to have it all summarized for cavechat. (I don't know with US FW are giving minutes to the presenters?) Don't feel obligated for this Peter, I could take a stab at it if you'd like.

[PYoungbaer]

Mollie's specific questions and suggestions on the USFWS alternatives were: on Option 1, why only a one-year moratorium? Then, she proposed a new concept: targeted openings (vs. targeted closures), suggesting that each state pick a cave that would be open for recreational use. She thought this could be done quickly and easily. I've been wondering where California's would be......