Wildlife Conservation Lab at ICCB!
- wildlifeconservh7wrm
- Jun 24
- 3 min read
We all thoroughly enjoyed the International Congress for Conservation Biology – here are some highlights.
One of the best parts of attending ICCB was the opportunity to learn about research beyond my usual focus. I was really impressed by the cutting-edge conservation work being done with genetic tools these days - like identifying individual Bilbies or Ghost Bats from scat samples. Conferences like ICCB are a great reminder of how much there is to learn by stepping outside your immediate area of research. Whether it’s attending talks or having casual conversations with people working on completely different species or systems, those moments can be unexpectedly valuable. You never know where you’ll find a method, idea, or perspective that might inform your own work.
I also presented on my PhD research “The role of insectivorous microbats in suppressing key agricultural pests in Australian macadamia orchards.” The talk sparked some really useful conversations that gave me a bunch of ideas to help plan the next stages of my project.
My favourite part of ICCB was meeting all the people and friends working in the same field—it reminded me that I'm not alone in this work. I also enjoyed catching up on the latest research and ideas, and was particularly captivated by the mountain lion project from the United States!
I presented part of my PhD research, 'Multi-species Occupancy Modelling: Predicting the Distributions of Mainland Australia's Largest Native Carnivores,' and was thrilled when it made it to the SCB Global Presentation Finalists!
I had a great time at ICCB, where I presented a poster on some preliminary results from my PhD research and got the opportunity to talk to bat researchers working around the world, including India, Taiwan, and New Caledonia.
I particularly enjoyed the diversity of presentations I was able to attend, on everything from conservation law and policy to invertebrate pollinator conservation, new developments in habitat modelling, publishing and everything in between. A highlight for me was Christina Zdenek's presentation on Palm Cockatoo conservation, which demonstrated that effective conservation actions can sometimes be achieved at very low cost (and the audience was lucky to have a drumming stick used by Palm Cockatoos passed around for a close up inspection)!
I attended ICCB as a volunteer, and it was a brilliant (albeit slightly overwhelming) first conference experience! Over the course of the week, I was introduced to a huge range of research fields, methods, and species I’d never heard of. One of my highlights was attending the uncharismatic species session. I especially enjoyed the presentation on sperm quality trade-offs in tuatara. I was also excited to learn that the New Zealand Department of Conservation’s research funding scheme now uses a standardised approach to species inclusion– boosting much-needed funding for invertebrate conservation research.
My favourite part of ICCB was seeing so many conservation biologists and practitioners from all around the world descend on Brisbane to all speak on the state of play in biodiversity conservation and where the field is heading next. I learned so many things, from how AI can help us do more comprehensive systematic literature reviews, to conservation of three otter species in Thailand, so much else in between.
I presented our work on “More bats equals fewer pests? Microbat foraging activity on vegetable crops in Queensland” and had a great reception to this work.
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