Student opportunities at the WDA

From Kevin Keel, chair of the WDA Student Awards Committee:


To Whom it May Concern:

I am chair of the student awards committee for the Wildlife Disease
Association (WDA) and I am trying to circulate information concerning
the opportunities we offer students at our annual meeting. Would it be
possible to post this information on the Wildlife Disease News Digest or
related listserves?

Each year we offer four awards at our annual meeting. They include
awards for graduate research, best student presentation, best student
poster and one academic scholarship. The student chosen as the
recipient of the graduate student research award receives compensation
for attendance to the meeting not to exceed $5,000 US. The scholarship
recipient receives $2,000 US. The winners of the student presentation
award and the student poster award receive $250 and a plaque.

The WDA meeting is to be held May 31 to June 4, 2010, at Iguazú,
Argentina. At this time I would like to extend an invitation to
interested students, with relevant research topics, to apply for the
various awards. Applications for all four awards are due March 5,
2010. Additional information concerning application requirements can be
found on the WDA website (http://www.wildlifedisease.org/students.html)
or in the attached pdf document.

Applications for the graduate research recognition award and the student
scholarship must be submitted as an e-mail attachment to Dr. Kevin Keel
at mkkeel@uga.edu by 5:00 PM EST of the date due. Abstracts submitted
for student presentations and student posters must also be submitted to
the scientific program chair for the annual conference. Instructions
for abstract submissions can be found on the conference website
(http://sites.google.com/site/wda2010argentina/).

Thank you for your attention and please circulate this information among
any potentially interested faculty and students.

Sincerely,

Kevin Keel

Anticipated job opportunities with WCS

Some upcoming jobs at the Wildlife Conservation Society:


http://www.gains.org/AboutGAINS/Vacancies/tabid/690/language/en-US/Default.aspx

WDA 2010 Registration and Call for Papers

Registration for the Wildlife Disease Association 2010 Conference and Call for Papers is now open:

http://sites.google.com/site/wda2010argentina/

Biosurveillance blog

Interesting new blog on surveillance for infectious diseases:

http://biosurveillance.typepad.com/biosurveillance/

Support ProMED by voting for them on facebook

Post-doctoral Research Associate (Avian Influenza in Wild Birds)

Here's a link to a new post-doc position posting (one year) with WCS to analyze and write AI data from Central and SE Asia.

ProMED and 2010 WDA meeting in Argentina

Really not sure why, but for some reason there were >1,400 visits to this site in the last 2 weeks. Not bad for a very stale blog (last post over 3 years ago!).

I guess I should say something, given folks are looking at the site. In fact, I'll say two things:

1. Those of you who read ProMED on a daily basis know it's value; I don't have to convince you. Those of who don't should know that this system is one of the most important disease reporting and notification tools we have, having given us early warning on things like SARS and given us a rapid communication tool during the early days of the current novel H1N1 pandemic.

ProMED is supported largely through donations from private individuals and organizations. ISID/ProMED have been nominated to receive a generous donation from Chase Community Giving, but folks have to vote for them through a facebook app for them to be in the running. It doesn't cost you anything, and this could really benefit the ongoing struggle to promote human, wildlife, and livestock health.

Please vote for ProMED by following this link.

2. The Wildlife Disease Association, the premier association for wildlife health professionals, is holding its annual meeting for the first time in Latin America. (meeting details here). This is always a very important meeting, where one can interact with the top folks in the field in a relaxed atmosphere, and be exposed to some really great science.

Support for International Travel to the 2006 WDA Meeting

Although people in the western world are beginning to understand the importance of wildlife health, those in the developing world that live with and depend on wildlife for survival have long understood these connections. However, the advances in our understanding of wildlife have not necessarily spread to those that need them the most.

The Wildlife Conservation Society Field Veterinary Program has generously donated three bursaries of US$1500 each to assist wildlife health professionals from the developing world to attend the 2006 Wildlife Disease Association meeting in Storrs, CT (conference website here). The Wildlife Disease Association is the globe's premier organization focussed on wildlife health, and consequently this is a great opportunity to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

If you know of someone who might benefit from these bursaries, please forward the announcement (here it is). Given the difficulty non-US scientists have in obtaining visas to enter the US, the sooner the better!

Damien