The Wildlife Society’s annual conference, taking place in Pittsburgh October 25–30, may keep attendees busy, but they’ll also have ample opportunity to venture beyond the city’s urban boundaries and explore Pennsylvania’s wilderness and wildlife.

Conservationists who want to get up close with nature can take part in educational field trips throughout the week. Excursions include opportunities to help clean up the Allegheny River, tour Ohiopyle State Park, hike to the famous Fallingwater National Historic Landmark (pictured below), or visit a wind farm right outside the Pennsylvania state forests.

These outings will offer a value different from the traditional lectures and workshops at the convention center by connecting attendees with real-life conservation projects and the environments in which they take place.

The trips also promise to provide conservationists with inspiration to take back to their own projects back home. As the association states in its conference justification: “Achieving effective results as a wildlife professional requires exposure to new thoughts and best practices.” And what better way to get those new thoughts and practices than by getting hands-on experience with Pennsylvania’s nature and conservation projects?

Source: Sxenko/Wikimedia Commons

The Week Ahead

October 25–28: Law enforcement officials can’t be serious all the time. Fortunately, they’ll get to have fun for a good cause at the 121st annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, in Orlando, Florida. Participants in the IACP Universal Adventure 5K Run/Walk will also be treated to a tour through the attractions at Universal Studios and Universal Orlando Resort. Proceeds will go to the Special Olympics.

November 2–6: The 63rd annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene will open with a bang, with Bill Gates scheduled to deliver the keynote address. The cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has a well-documented concern for public health and is a perfect reflection of the foundation’s mission to bring global health experts together and join in preventing and controlling illnesses that disproportionately affect poor populations across the world.

Down the Line

November 12–15: Understanding dyslexia takes the support of both experts and loved ones, so the inclusion of the Annual Conference for Families is a welcome one for the International Dyslexia Association’s Annual Reading, Literacy, and Learning Conference. The family conference, set for November 14–15 in San Diego, offers specialized programming, including information sessions and opportunities for attendees to network with experts and socialize with other parents of children with dyslexia.

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