SWPARC is pleased to announce our annual meeting will be held at The Chiricahua Desert Museum & Geronimo Event Center in Rodeo, New Mexico, USA, July 27-29, 2019 immediately following the Charlie W. Painter BioBlitz. The meeting will officially kick-off with an icebreaker* on July 27 at 7 PM, followed by two days of presentations on herpetological conservation work in the southwestern US (AZ, CA, CO, HI, NM, NV, OK, TX, and UT). Registration includes dinner and two drink tickets for Sunday night’s banquet that includes the Charlie Painter Memorial Award presentation and live auction.
*Our icebreaker is complimentary with a cash bar, and will take place following the BBQ dinner honoring Charlie W. Painter that begins at 5 PM on July 27. If you’re interested in enjoying the BBQ dinner, you need to register at the SWPARC website here.
Vendor and Sponsorship opportunities are available!
Keynote Speaker: Paul Crump (Herpetologist, Nongame and Rare Species Program, Texas Parks and Wildlife)
Originally from Somerset in the southwest of England, Paul Crump attended the University of Cardiff in Wales and obtained a BSc in Genetics. During his time in college he completed two internships at zoo’s in the USA. The first was an internship in the summer of 2001 at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio where he was first exposed to reptile and amphibian husbandry and propagation. The second was a year-long program (2002) at the Houston Zoo in Texas. The program at the Houston Zoo ultimately led to a job in the Department of Herpetology where, from 2003-2008, Paul worked as a zookeeper maintaining and breeding a large collection of amphibians. In 2008, Paul was promoted to a program manager position to oversee the growing number of amphibian conservation projects the Houston Zoo was involved with, such as Houston toad recovery and the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in Panama. In 2013, Paul left the Houston Zoo to attend the University of New Brunswick in Canada to pursue a PhD in amphibian ecology. His thesis focused on monitoring and measuring the responses of wood frog populations to climate-driven changes to wetland hydroperiods. In 2017, he moved back to Texas to take a postdoctoral researcher position at Texas State University working on the dunes sagebrush lizard project and then started work as a herpetologist in the Nongame and Rare Species Program at Texas Parks and Wildlife in early 2018.
Field Trip: July 26-27, 2019
This year’s field trip is combined with the 4th Annual Charlie W. Painter BioBlitz, an annual event to honor the life and work of Charlie — a well-known, respected, and beloved expert on the reptiles and amphibians of the southwestern United States, and the first State Herpetologist for New Mexico. The BioBlitz is a 24-hour event that begins Friday, July 26 at 3 PM and ends on Saturday, July 27 at 3 PM. Visit the official BioBlitz website for registration and additional information.
Registration
Online registration is available through EventBrite.
Registration fees
Early Professionals $85 (before June 14)
Early Students $65 (before June 14)
Early Guests $30 (before June 14)
Late Professionals $110 (after June 14)
Late Students $75 (after June 14)
Late Guests $40 (before June 14)
*Notes:
All presenters must be registered for the conference.
Guests include non-professional partners, spouses, and children under 18 years old.
Registration fees include dinner and 2 drink tickets for Sunday night’s banquet.
Meeting Location & Accommodations
The meeting will be held at The Chiricahua Desert Museum & Geronimo Event Center, 4 Rattlesnake Canyon Rd, Rodeo, New Mexico, USA (email: desertmuseum@gmail.com; tel: 575-557-5757).