Youth-Mentor Mixer
WHERE: Hotel Las Palmas, Miraflores, Lima
WHEN: Tuesday 25th of February 2025 from 19:30 to 21:00
WHAT: The event is be designed to be informal, creating a relaxed atmosphere conducive to open discussions and networking.
Youth will take turns speaking to each mentor at a ca 20 min interval per round. There will be 4 rounds in total. At the end of each round, mentors will stay put, while youth will move to the next mentor (like speed dating).
We aim to maintain a ratio of approximately 1 mentor to 5 youths to ensure meaningful interactions and personalised engagement. However, we understand that this ratio may need to be tweaked depending on attendance. We will prepare a series of guiding questions for each group to serve as conversation starters and facilitate meaningful discussions during the event.
Social Dinner
WHERE: La Candelaria, Lima
WHEN: Thursday 27th of February 2025 at 20:00
WHAT: A social dinner in which we’ll eat all together and get to know each other better! Please be aware that you will be required to pay your fee for the social dinner in cash on Monday 24th of February when you sign in to the congress. The price per person will be around 20$
SIGN UP HERE!
Necropsy Workshop
WHERE: Congress Venue
WHEN: 14:30-17:00
WHAT: An interactive workshop where participants will discuss how to build an effective monitoring programme based on post mortem examinations, including how to conduct a necropsy, securely store data and samples, and turn research into impactful policy. This workshop is open to anyone who uses otter carcasses for research, or is interested in doing so.
Detailed and standardised post mortem investigations of otters found dead offer valuable data and samples for research which provides insights into the status of populations and provide unique insights into individual, population and ecosystem health. Since the late 20th century the value of otter post mortem research has been increasingly recognised for management, regulation and policy, in diverse areas including wildlife conservation (population monitoring), human health (zoonotic disease) and chemical regulation (ecosystem exposure monitoring). To date long term otter monitoring programmes only exist in a few countries, such as the United Kingdom and Sweden. European collaborators have come together to share practical advice, including biometrics, parasite collection techniques or storage of samples, and there is a recognised need to set up similar schemes in more countries within Europe as well as outside, and to share best practice and harmonise methods so that data can be widely shared and compared.
Participants will discuss the critical steps it takes to build a robust monitoring programme, to conduct standardised post mortem investigations and to set up a biobank in accordance with individual needs, which also facilitates broader collaboration. This includes legal aspects, such as national and international conservation policies, hunting laws and hygiene measures. Relevant steps of a thorough necropsy, including sample and data collection, will be explained using different case scenarios. A minimum set of samples, most important to be taken, will be proposed, including standardised handling and storage.
Our goal is to provide all participants with a toolkit of knowledge encompassing the most important aspects to build an otter post mortem monitoring scheme. Based on group discussions identifying individual and country or species specific challenges, participants are encouraged to develop problem solving approaches. Case studies from existing post mortem programmes will highlight the potential of such monitoring schemes, especially with regards to aspects such as mitigation measures for environmental pollutants, One Health and biodiversity frameworks.
eDNA Workshop
WHERE: Congress Venue
WHEN: 14:30-17:00
WHAT: More info coming soon