One Health

November 1, 2022

Elizabeth Bennett, Ph.D, Vice President for Species Conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), presents on the important topic of wildlife trafficking, demonstrating how its effects are far-reaching and devastating to life on this planet. Run by organized criminal syndicates and facilitated by corruption, wildlife trafficking is causing major declines in the geographic ranges and populations of numerous species. Many of the species threatened by such trade are those performing key ecological roles, so their loss has severe impacts on other species and on ecosystem function, including reducing carbon storage ability. In addition, the conditions in which multiple species are traded in crowded urban markets present a high risk of triggering and spreading zoonotic diseases. Loss of such species to illegal trade also harms local communities that depend on them and their habitats to support their livelihoods. Addressing such illegal trade requires action all along the trade chain: effective protection against poaching in the animals’ native habitats, intercepting traffickers along the trade chain from source to market and changing consumer behavior to stop the demand for wildlife, the ultimate driver of the system. This can be done, given enough commitment and resources, as evidenced by conserved and recovering populations of turtles, tigers, forest elephants, and more. See related resources below. 

September 21, 2021

Bill Konstant, a member of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group and advisor to the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, discusses the efforts to conserve the following three endangered species. His talk focuses on the multi-disciplinary, long-term programs that involve local capacity building, public awareness and community participation. See related resources below.

• Panamanian golden frogs - development of the first bio-secure captive breeding facility to safeguard rescued populations of golden frogs and more than a dozen other Panamanian amphibians
• Sumatran and Javan rhinos - protection efforts within three Indonesian national parks, involving collaborative efforts between government agencies and NGOs
• Mountain gorillas - international efforts that link protection efforts with nature tourism, thereby generating essential funding for conservation programs that benefit many other species.

March 11, 2021

Dr. Lawrence Niles, MS, PhD, wildlife biologist, discusses how horseshoe crabs are the lynchpin in a hemisphere-wide migration of shorebirds. These crabs play a vital role in the productivity for both birds and fish in the Delaware Bay estuary and most estuaries along the Atlantic Coast. Dr. Niles surveys the conservation efforts to stop the wasteful killing of horseshoe crabs, like using them for bait, or for their blood to make the LAL, a biochemical used to detect contamination in all medical products for which a synthetic is now available. See related resources below. 

October 20, 2020

Grant Sizemore, from the American Bird Conservancy, explores the One Health implications of outdoor domestic cats and identifies solutions that benefit domestic animals, wildlife and people. See related resources below. 

October 8, 2020

Scott McArt, assistant professor of pollinator health at Cornell University, discusses the stressors resulting in pollinator declines. These include loss of habitat, pesticides, parasites/pathogens, climate change, and inadequately managed bees. McArt addresses what YOU can do to help. See related resources below. 

September 8, 2020

Dr. Shelley Rankin of PennVet discusses COVID-19 in animals and presents the most recent scientific evidence (at the date of this recording). See related resources below. 

November 14, 2018 6:00pm Life Sciences Auditorium, Co-Sponsored by the Heritage Conservancy.

In the past two decades, the scientific community has documented hundreds of species of amphibian whose conservation is impacted by emergent infectious disease. While the fungal and viral pathogens associated with these diseases do not infect humans, our activities can influence their spread and impact in amphibian communities. The potential threat of one such pathogen, the “salamander devouring fungus,” is so great that over 200 species of amphibian are banned from import into North America. 

This seminar will address the global impacts of amphibian diseases on conservation, how human activities and disturbances to the environment can influence disease, and how researchers, agencies, and citizens can take action to monitor and prevent the spread of amphibian pathogens.

Dr. Jim Julian is an assistant professor of biology at Penn State Altoona, where his research focuses on the fungal and viral pathogens that cause disease in amphibian communities. He has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northeast Fisheries Center to compare disease prevalence between natural and human-constructed wetlands, and he is currently evaluating methods to detect amphibian pathogen DNA in water samples from ponds. He enjoys engaging the public through tours of amphibian breeding ponds, and he participates in national and regional task teams on herpetological diseases through the organization Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.

March 6, 2018

Peter Marra, Ph.D., discusses his highly-controversial book, Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer (2016), tracing the history of cats, their domestication, and their implication on wildlife today and in the future. Marra is the Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.