The main session was 9am – 12noon and began with a brief review of WYNDD activities and outputs by Dr. Gary Beauvais (Director). He followed with an overview of the WYNDD Information Systems and Services program, emphasizing the online Data Explorer application. That system handled about 25,000 data requests in FY24, and WYNDD is on track to exceed that total for FY25. Beauvais noted that supplemental core funding provided by partners to WYNDD is critical to the maintenance and improvement of Data Explorer. Beauvais then summarized the WYNDD Botany Program, noting that WYNDD will have a new Lead Botanist in March: Sienna Wessel, recently of the Washington Natural Heritage Program. Dr. Paige Copenhaver-Parry, Ellen Whittle, and Dr. Lusha Tronstad then summarized the activities of the WYNDD Ecology, Vertebrate Zoology, and Invertebrate Zoology programs, respectively. The WYNDD-focused section of the meeting section drew 165 remote participants.
The final portion of the morning session involved representatives of major partner groups – U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department - providing updates on their organizational priorities and initiatives, which drew 120-130 remote participants.
From 1 – 2pm Gary Beauvais provided a demonstration of the WYNDD Data Explorer, highlighting new features alongside previously-available functionality. Fifty-one participants attended the demonstration, with several establishing new user-accounts during the session.
From 2 – 3pm Lusha Tronstad hosted a meeting of the Wyoming Pollinator Working Group, with presentations by several WYNDD researchers and a discussion of research and management needs concerning pollinating insects in Wyoming and the west. Fifty-three people participated in this session.
From 3 – 4pm Ellen Whittle and Daniel Batie presented a discussion of acoustic analysis for bat researchers, touching on important aspects of equipment, field methods, analytical options, and best-approaches to working with acoustic data. Forty-five participants were involved.
Also from 3 – 4pm Lusha Tronstad led a discussion of aquatic ecology and freshwater invertebrates, including mussels and snails, with a focus on current knowledge gaps, management, and needed research. Seventeen people attended this discussion.
All sessions were recorded – please use the links below to access the recordings. And please plan to join us in 2026!
Videos:
Slideshows (PDF Format):