The Waterbird Society is proud to host its first ever TIDE Talk event at the Texas State Aquarium as part of the 2022 Waterbird Society Annual Conference. The acronym TIDE represents Technology, Innovation, Design, and Education – four key elements in waterbird study, management, and conservation. These talks will depart from the typical format of scientific presentation and instead introduce novel and exciting ideas and innovations in waterbird research in an engaging and dynamic manner. Shuttles will be available to transport participants from the Omni Hotel (bay side entrance) to the State Aquarium starting at 5:15 pm.

Speakers

Dr. Katherine Shlepr "Happy Hours aren't all fun & games! Political literacy benchmarks for conservation biologists" Kate began her career observing Larus gulls at the Alice Eno Research Station (College of the Atlantic) in the Gulf of Maine, converting this study into a M.Sc. (University of New Brunswick) project on the impacts of anthropogenic food on gull populations. She carried her interest in wildlife management to Florida to pursue a Ph.D. (Florida Atlantic University) on Wood Stork Mycteria americana conservation in the Everglades, then to coastal Texas where she worked as the research coordinator for a waterbird colony restoration planning project at the Harte Research Institute. Kate is now in Washington, D.C. to begin her 1-year term as a Knauss Legislative Fellow (NOAA/Sea Grant) where she works on Coast Guard and maritime transportation policy for the U.S. House of Representatives. She has been a proud member of the Waterbird Society since 2011 and currently serves as the Society's Secretary.

Dr. Leo Calle "Meatballs in a can of varying sizes: an attempt to quantify career trajectories" Leo is a Senior Scientist and Lead Model Developer for the startup company Regrow, Inc. – a company that's creating carbon market in the agricultural sector by providing science-based estimates of carbon sequestration potential greenhouse gas accounting. He considers himself a scientist, ecologist, and ecosystem modeler. He likes to think about and build mathematical and numerical models of natural and human systems. He has a background in researching and developing process-based models as tools to study Avian ecology, coastal hydrology, terrestrial aquatic systems, forest demography, and carbon and nitrogen cycles. An underlying focus of interest is scaling, in space and time. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Ecology at Montana State University.