Media Tip Sheet: Wildlife Ecology at ESA’s 2026 Annual Meeting
Featured presentations at the 111th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Salt Lake City, Utah
July 16, 2026
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mayda Nathan, mayda@esa.org
Wildlife populations are responding to rapid environmental change in ways that can reshape ecosystems and inform conservation efforts. At this year’s Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting (July 26–31) in Salt Lake City, Utah, researchers will present new findings on the ecological relationships between animals, their habitats and the growing influence of human activities across terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems.
Highlighted presentations explore topics including predator recovery, species declines, rewilding, wildlife disease, animal behavior and human-wildlife interactions. Studies examine organisms ranging from elephants, pangolins and bottlenose dolphins to loons, seabirds, suckers and urban mammals, while also addressing issues such as road mortality, habitat development, anthropogenic noise and community-based conservation. The research highlights how wildlife ecology is informing conservation strategies and improving our understanding of how animals respond to environmental change.
ESA invites staff journalists, freelance journalists, student journalists and press officers to register for free as media attendees up to and throughout the week of the Annual Meeting. For eligibility information, please visit ESA’s press registration credential policy page.
Members of the media will have access to all scientific sessions at the conference and to a press room where they can enjoy refreshments, internet access, a printer and an interview area.
Monday, July 27
| 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM MT | Elephant carcasses restructure soil chemistry and resistance, woody plant physiology, seedling recruitment, and herbivory across a savanna landscape Presenters: Ryan Helcoski, Utah State University; Ndzalama Mkansi, Scientific Services; Courtney G. Reed, UC Santa Barbara; Dave I. Thompson, South African Environmental Observation Network; Joshua Schimel, UC Santa Barbara; Izak Smit, Nelson Mandela University; Tercia Strydom, Scientific Services; Aimee G. Tallia, Utah State University; Deron E. Burkepile, UC Santa Barbara; Nathan P. Lemoine, Marquette University; Michelle Budny, Marquette University; Edd Hammill, Utah State University; Johan T. du Toit, Utah State University Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM MT | Persistent landscape-scale aspen decline following large carnivore restoration in northern Yellowstone National Park Presenters: Dan MacNulty, Utah State University; Nicholas Bergeron, Utah State University; James A. Lutz, Utah State University; Douglas Ramsey, Utah State University; Eric Larsen, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM MT | Endangered suckers nearing extirpation in Upper Klamath Lake Presenters: Jacob Krause, U.S. Geological Survey; Brian Hayes, U.S. Geological Survey; Rachael Paul-Wilson, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission; Maria Dzul, U.S. Geological Survey Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM MT | Six decades of monitoring provide critical context for an avian influenza outbreak in marine mammals Presenters: Esin Ickin, UC Santa Cruz; Molly H. McEntee, UC Santa Cruz; Marm Kilpatrick, UC Santa Cruz; Patrick W. Robinson, UC Santa Cruz; Zabe Premo, UC Santa Cruz; Conner M. Hale, UC Santa Cruz; Madison J. Pfau, UC Santa Cruz; Elizabeth Ashley, UC Davis; Frankie Gerraty, UC Santa Cruz; Madeline Cheu, UC Santa Cruz; Natalie A. Storm, UC Santa Cruz; Sebastian Caamaño, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, California State University; Aditi M. Jacob, UC Santa Cruz; Ali White, UC Santa Cruz; Stella Cardenas, UC Santa Cruz; Honour Dufresne, UC Santa Cruz; Amaya Espardinez, UC Santa Cruz; Hailey Hacker, UC Santa Cruz; Beatrice Hawkins, UC Santa Cruz; Madison Kranker, UC Santa Cruz; Violet Lemley, UC Santa Cruz; Kevin O’Connor, UC Santa Cruz; Sean Quigley, UC Santa Cruz; Lucas Romano, UC Santa Cruz; Isabelle Santiago, UC Santa Cruz; Brandon States, UC Santa Cruz; Kate Wang, UC Santa Cruz; Daniel P. Costa, UC Santa Cruz; Christine Johnson, UC Davis; Roxanne S. Beltran, UC Santa Cruz Contributed Poster Presentation |
Tuesday, July 28
| 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM MT | Advancing the ecological knowledge of a soft tick vector to inform the U.S. surveillance and response plan to African swine fever emergence Presenters: Sebastian Botero-Cañola, University of Florida; Carson Torhorst, University of Florida; Nicholas Canino, University of Florida; Kathleen C. O’Hara, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; Angela M. James, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; Samantha Wisely, University of Florida Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM MT | Pronounced post-COVID-19 decline in sale and usage of medicinal pangolin products in China Presenters: Timothy C. Bonebrake, University of Hong Kong; Yifu Wang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM MT | Responses of African savanna trees to large herbivore extinction and rewilding Presenters: Tyler C. Coverdale, University of Notre Dame; Mahesh Sankaran, National Centre for Biological Sciences; Andrew Davies, Harvard University, Jayashree Ratnam, National Centre for Biological Sciences; Benjamin Wigley, University of Bayreuth; David J. Augustine, USDA-ARS Rangeland Resources and Systems Research Unit Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM MT | Cat(ch) ‘meow’tside how ’bout that: The impacts of domestic cats and dogs on urban mammal spatiotemporal behavior Presenters: Austin M. Green, University of Utah; Chloe Horn, University of Utah; Kent Wu, Central Wasatch Commission; Rachael Berghahn, University of Utah Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM MT | Marine-derived nitrogen deposition from salmon carcasses in coastal temperate rainforests shapes soil microbial community composition Presenter: Caroline Daws, Outer Coast Contributed Poster Presentation |
Wednesday, July 29
| 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM MT | Estimating Annual Large Mammal Roadkill for California Presenters: Lorna Haworth, UC Davis; Alice Michel, UC Davis; Benjamin Hodgson, UC Davis; Fraser Shilling, UC Davis Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM MT | Accelerometry and animal-borne video reveals the importance of aerial capture of flying fish and predator facilitation interactions to red-footed boobies. Presenters: Abigail Schiffmiller, University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Greg Breed, University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Hillary Young, UC Santa Barbara; Scott Shaffer, San Jose State University; Sara Maxwell, University of Washington Bothell Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM MT | Functional Roles of the World’s Recovered Predators Presenters: Ishana Shukla, UC Davis; Julia D. Monk, New York University; Justine Smith, UC Davis Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM MT | From the Ground Up: Community-Powered Wildlife Conservation in Utah and Abroad Presenters: Austin Green, University of Utah; Julie Young, Utah State University; Gaby Karakcheyeva, University of Utah; Ilina Mocuta, University of Utah; Emmanuel Santa Martinez, Salt Lake Community College; Frances Ngo, Sageland Collaborative; Kaylee Meyers, University of Utah Symposium |
| 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM MT | Evaluating Camera Traps and Field Surveys for Monitoring Herpetofauna in the Civilian Control Zone, South Korea Presenters: Jiyeon Cheon, Transboundary Ecological Research Institute; Jihu Koo, DMZ Ecology Research Institute; Chloe Jun, DMZ Ecology Research Institute; Yune Hur, DMZ Ecology Research Institute; Jason Chung, DMZ Ecology Research Institute; Hailey Cho, DMZ Ecology Research Institute; Zoe Chang, DMZ Ecology Research Institute; Jae Hyun Kim, Transboundary Ecological Research Institute; Seung Ho Kim, DMZ Ecology Research Institute Contributed Poster Presentation |
| 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM MT | Global Patterns of Decline in the World’s Avian Functional Guilds Presenters: Nikolas D. Orton, University of Utah; Cagan H. Sekercioglu, University of Utah Contributed Poster Presentation |
| 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM MT | Some like it hot: Miami’s urban heat island aids the spread of its most prolific non-native lizards Presenters: Elizabeth A. Afkhami Searcy, University of Miami; Dishane Hewavithana, Florida International University; Kathryn A. Afkhami Searcy, Miami Dade School District; Michelle E. Afkhami, University of Miami; Christopher A. Searcy, University of Miami Contributed Poster Presentation |
Thursday, July 30
| 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM MT | Common loons breed on lakes with shoreline development similar to where they were born Presenters: Emily F. Renkey, UC Los Angeles; Katie A. Adler, UC Los Angeles; Daniel T. Blumstein, UC Los Angeles; Walter Piper, Chapman University Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM MT | Cascading effects of anthropogenic noise and heat on avian foraging and parenting behavior in California vineyards Presenters: Karen V. Gallardo Cruz, UC Davis; Gail L. Patricelli, UC Davis; Tara Robey, UC Davis; Erin Wilson-Rankin, UC Riverside; Houston Wilson, UC Riverside; Matthew Johnson, Cal Poly Humboldt; Daniel S. Karp, UC Davis Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM MT | A quarter century on the edge: Spatiotemporal dynamics, risk patterns, and impacts of human-wildlife conflict in Chitwan National Park, Nepal Presenters: Abhinaya Pathak, UC San Diego Contributed Oral Presentation |
| 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM MT | Shipside Feeding in Bottlenose Dolphins: Quantifying the Behavioral Mechanisms of a Novel Foraging Strategy Presenters: Christina Deaver, Utah Valley University; Marie Taylor, Utah Valley University; Meghan Weinpress-Galipeau, South Carolina Aquarium; Madeline Fry, Utah Valley University; Hannah Bouchillon, South Carolina Aquarium; Patricia A. Fair, Medical University of South Carolina; Jessica A. Cusick, Utah Valley University Latebreaking Poster Presentation |
| 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM MT | Beaver Fever: Giardia duodenalis in North American Beavers (Castor canadensis) Located in Utah Presenters: Elena B. Green, Utah State University; Sara B. Weinstein, Utah State University Latebreaking Poster Presentation |
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Learn more about the upcoming ESA Annual Meeting, July 26–31, on the meeting website.
ESA invites press and institutional public information officers to attend for free. To register, please contact ESA Public Affairs Manager Mayda Nathan directly at mayda@esa.org.
The Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915, is the world’s largest community of professional ecologists and a trusted source of ecological knowledge, committed to advancing the understanding of life on Earth. The 8,000 member Society publishes six journals and a membership bulletin and broadly shares ecological information through policy, media outreach, and education initiatives. The Society’s Annual Meeting attracts 4,000 attendees and features the most recent advances in ecological science. Visit the ESA website at https://www.esa.org.
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