U of M Crookston students attend and present at Wildlife Society conference in Maryland

This conference opened doors to new opportunities I would have never been able to get without attending this.

Hunter Kasprowicz, Wildlife Society student chapter member

Four members of the University of Minnesota Crookston Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society and their advisor recently attended the 31st Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society in Baltimore, Maryland. Students Ryan Kalal, Zoey Magner, Hunter Kasprowicz, and Eric Gunderson, along with John Loegering, U of M Crookston professor and Agriculture and Natural Resources department chair, took part in technical presentations and workshops, networking events, and represented the campus in the National Wildlife Quiz Bowl in which Loegering served as a moderator.

U of M Crookston students won three of four of their preliminary quiz bowl matches, but were edged out on points by the team that ultimately took second place.

"This was an incredible learning experience for these students!" exclaimed Loegering. "They engaged with their professional peers at a national level, interviewed with major professors for graduate school, and learned about ecosystems far beyond Minnesota."

At the conference, Kasprowicz and Gunderson presented posters of their undergraduate research during the Contributed and Student Poster Networking Session and their posters were viewed by hundreds of colleagues including U of M Crookston alumnus Michael McMahon.

• Citations for their posters are:
  "Relationships between large wood and pool characteristics in the Columbia and Missouri river basins" by Hunter T. Kasprowicz and John P. Loegering - https://z.umn.edu/Kasprowicz2024TWS
• "The influence of common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) on captures of North American passerines" by Eric L. Gunderson, Laura E. Bell, Jeffrey A. Bell, and John P. Loegering - https://z.umn.edu/GundersonEL2024TWS

"This conference opened doors to new opportunities I would have never been able to get without attending this," said Kasprowicz. "There is so much to learn and advice to gain from all sorts of career professionals. I highly recommend that anyone in Natural Resources attend this conference at least once in their early career."

"I enjoyed representing UMC at the pinnacle of my work at the National TWS conference as I was well supported in presenting my research and participating in the student Quiz Bowl," added Gunderson.

The students did well on the raffles and giveaways at the student networking events, each coming home with prizes. The conference culminated with a networking event at the National Aquarium.

After the conference, Loegering took the students to Assateague Island National Seashore, the site of Loegering's master of science research, for a day of learning about coastal ecology and recreation on the barrier island. Additionally, students had the opportunity to tour monuments and museums in Washington, D.C., including the White House.

"This trip was a great opportunity for us to network with professionals and students," shared Magner. "I enjoyed getting to learn about more career options and the research being conducted in the wildlife field. Our extra time in Maryland was spent exploring D.C. and Baltimore. We visited national sites, monuments, museums, and the National Zoo & Aquarium. We spent a day on the Maryland coast on Assateague Island and in Ocean City. We enjoyed the beach, boardwalk, and seafood!"

"Going to the TWS conference in Baltimore opened my eyes to many of the possible paths I could take with my degree from UMC," Kalal stated.

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