The 13th North American Crane Workshop will be held April 14-18, 2014 in Lafayette, Louisiana at the Hotel Acadiana. The Workshop will include two full days of presentations and one day of field trips to the spectacular Louisiana wetlands. The call for abstracts and registration are now open (click here to register or to submit an abstract).
Lunches for all three days, the banquet meal Thursday night, and the field trip are all included in the registration fee (students $175; all others $350), as is a three-year North American Crane Working Group (NACWG) membership for 2014–2016. Room accommodations are not included in the registration fee, but NACWG has reserved a block of rooms in the hotel at special rates. The special rates will also apply to the three days before and the three days after the Workshop, subject to availability at the time the room reservation is made. Please contact the Hotel Acadiana directly to arrange your room accommodations.
April in Louisiana offers spectacular birding with peak migration of Neotropical migrants and shorebirds and a plethora of native waterbirds. Please monitor the NACWG website for specific details and updates. See you in Lafayette!
Student Travel Awards
NACWG is offering up to three Student Travel Awards of $500 each. To be eligible, the student must present a paper (oral or poster) at the Louisiana Workshop and be the lead author, although other authors may be listed on the paper.
Student Travel Awards are given on a competitive basis. Applications will be judged on the cover letter, statement of interest in crane research, and abstract of the paper to be presented.
Applications should be submitted to Jane Austin.
Walkinshaw Award Nominations
NACWG is seeking nominations for the L. H. Walkinshaw Award to be presented at the 13th Workshop. The purpose of this award is to recognize individuals whose efforts have advanced our ability to conserve a species, subspecies or population of cranes in North America. Criteria for consideration for this award are long-term involvement with conservation of cranes through research, management, education, or application of biological principles to the preservation of cranes in North America. Past recipients are: Jacob Valentine, James Lewis, George Gee, Stephen Nesbitt, Ernie Kuyt and Brian Johns. For more details on the award and recipients, visit the NACWG website. Nominations (1-2 pages) highlighting the nominee’s contribution to crane conservation may be sent to Jane Austin.
Silent Auction Contributions
We will be requesting goods (new or unwanted) for a silent auction to be held during the Workshop. Proceeds will go to help fund student travel & research. The sorts of items donated previously included bird-related books, framed pictures and other kinds of artwork, handicrafts, apparel, birding accessories, etc.