Call for Abstracts
The local conference organizing committee is now accepting abstracts for the 68th International Wildlife Disease Association Annual Conference. The conference theme is “Fostering Resiliency in a Time of Change.”
The Scientific Program Committee encourages all abstracts to be submitted that address themes pertinent to wildlife health. General and concurrent themed oral sessions will then be developed based on the scientific quality of the contributions and the number of abstracts submitted on each topic. Specific areas of interest include:
- Aquatic Wildlife and Ecosystem Health
- Effects of Catastrophic Events and Climate Change on Wildlife
- Interface of Wildlife, Humans, Livestock and Companion Animals
- Impacts of Energy Development on Wildlife Health
- Policy and Wildlife Health Management
- Transboundary Collaboration for Wildlife Health
- Rehabilitation Centers as Sentinels for Wildlife Population Health
- Technological Advances for Wildlife Health Management
- Urban Wildlife Issues
- Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
Abstracts submitted by students through the Student Track will be considered for the special student poster and oral presentation sessions and will be eligible for awards.
Abstracts will only be reviewed after the submission deadline of March 1, 2019. You may edit, change, or withdraw your submission by returning to this system at any time prior to that deadline.
Instructions for Submission
All abstracts must be submitted via the Conference Ex Ordo site.
During the abstract submission process the following information must be included:
Track
Choose either the Regular or Student track. Students should select the Student track if they wish to be considered for the student-only session and for the student awards on Tuesday, August 6. For all other submissions, the Regular track should be selected.
Format
Indicate whether the abstract should be considered for:
- an oral presentation only;
- a poster presentation only; or
- an oral presentation primarily and if not accepted for an oral presentation, considered for a poster presentation.
If a poster presentation only is selected, the abstract will not be considered for an oral presentation. If the submitting author selects an an oral presentation only, the abstract will not be considered for a poster presentation. If the final option is selected, the abstract will first be considered for an oral presentation. If the abstract is not selected for an oral presentation, it will be considered equally with all other abstracts submitted for poster presentations.
Title & Abstract
Abstracts must be 300 words or less (not including title or author names). Abstracts should be in English and contain background, objectives, methods, results, and conclusions. References and non-standard abbreviations should be avoided. Scientific names should be included in parentheses on the first usage in the abstract. Abstracts can only be entered in plain text format. File attachments are not allowed.
Authors
All authors and co-authors of the abstract need to submit their full name, affiliations, and email address.
Topics
Topic areas will be assigned by the Program Committee to all successful abstracts when the program is designed.
Additional Info
In addition to the information required for all authors as indicated above, presenting authors also need to include their degree(s) and a brief description of their years of expertise related to the presentation topic(s). This additional information for presenters is necessary for continuing education accreditation from the American College of Zoological Medicine (ACZM).
After Submission
Confirmation of completed abstract
After you submit your abstract, you will receive a confirmatory email. It is your responsibility to verify that all information is complete and correct. No changes can be made after the March 1, 2019 deadline.
Abstract Review
All Regular Track abstracts will be reviewed by the Conference Program Committee, which is comprised of a wide range of professionals with expertise in the wildlife health field. Student Track abstracts will be reviewed by the Student Program Committee. More information for students about scoring is available in the WDA Student Awards Competition announcement available on the WDA 2019 Conference Program page. Reviewers are not provided with author information.
Abstracts are assessed using the following seven criteria:
- Background
- Hypothesis/Objective
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Conclusions
- Innovation/Originality
- Significance
For abstracts submitted to the Regular Track, each criterion is scored on a scale of 0-5, for a maximum possible total score of 35 points. Abstracts submitted to the Student Track are scored slightly differently. Criteria 1 through 5 are scored on a 0-5 scale and criteria 6 and 7 are scored on a 0-3 scale, for a maximum possible score of 31.
Notification to authors
Authors will be notified of the decision on their abstract by April 30, 2019. Presenters must accept or decline the invitation to present by May 15, 2019. We encourage presenters to complete the conference registration at that time.
Presentation Withdrawal
If a presentation must be withdrawn from the program, contact the conference program chair Kirsten Gilardi (kvgilardi@ucdavis.edu). Presentations withdrawn after June 15, 2019 may not be able to be replaced.
Poster and Oral Presentation Formats
Detailed oral and poster presentations guidelines will be provided with notification of abstract acceptance. We encourage authors with projects that are not expected to be completed by the end of the call for abstracts to submit a poster, rather than an oral presentation. Posters will be displayed prominently during extended session breaks.
All oral presentation rooms will be equipped with a computer and projector. Microsoft Office PowerPoint will be the only format for oral presentations.
Registration Required to Participate
All presenters (both poster and oral) need to register for the conference no later than May 15, 2019 to confirm participation.