Welcome Reception, Member’s Banquet and Poster Reception

Tuesday – Welcome Reception & Wildlife Photo Gallery

Tuesday, 7-9pm, February 7
Extra Fee Required, $15
Located in the Edge Nightclub

Join us on Tuesday evening to kick-off the Annual Meeting and make connections with new & old friends and colleagues. We will serve up two tasty action stations offering both street tacos and nachos (with delicious toppings and fresh fruit), plus a (well-stocked) no-host bar will also be available. Tuesday evening will also launch our wildlife photo exhibit. Check out what fellow Western Section members have been up to lately and celebrate the opening night of our 64th Annual Meeting. Relax, you have arrived in Reno! We have a great week ahead of us.

Welcome Reception Menu:

(1) Street Taco Station with Marinated Grilled Beef and/or Black Beans. Served with Warm Corn and Flour Tortillas, Shredded Cheese, Sliced Jalapenos, Lettuce, Tomato, Cilantro, Pickled Cabbage, Sour Cream, Pico de Gallo and Guacamole.

(2) Nacho station with Fried Corn Tortillas, Pork Carnita Meat, Hot Cheese Sauce, chili and all the traditional condiments.

(3) Fresh Fruit!

Submit your photos and enter to win a GoPro Camera!

Send us your photos! A slideshow will be displayed at the Welcome Reception during our upcoming annual meeting. The content is up to you! Send in your photos of wildlife, coworkers, TWS workshops, study animals, unexpected situations, beautiful locations, etc. Help us celebrate wildlife and the wildlife profession! Please send photos in jpg format to evelarrucea@gmail.com by February 1st. Each person that submits a photo(s) for the Tuesday night wildlife gallery will be entered in a drawing for a brand-new GoPro Camera! The drawing will be held on Tuesday evening at the Welcome Reception. Need not be present to win.

Wednesday – Member’s Banquet and Section Awards:

Enjoy an evening of reconnecting with your colleagues and friends and making new acquaintances over a good meal at the annual member’s banquet. During the banquet, we will also celebrate and recognize individuals, groups and chapters for their achievements and accomplishments with our Western Section Awards. If you haven’t previously attended a Western Section banquet, now’s the perfect time to start a new tradition.

Wednesday, February 8, Extra Fee Required, $40

Located in the Capri Ballroom

Banquet Schedule:

6-7pm – No-Host Cocktail Bar, Capri Ballroom Foyer

6:45pm – Doors Open for seating, Capri Ballroom

7:00pm – Banquet Begins, Salads Served

7:20pm – Entrees Served

7:45pm – Banquet Presentation (All meeting attendees welcome to join us at 7:45pm for the Program. Extra seats will be available.)

8:00pm – Awards and Recognitions

9:00pm – Raffle

Banquet Presentation: Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, TWS-Ws member, wildlife advocate, author and California Director for the National Wildlife Federation, will share tales of wild wonder from her new book, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: Wildlife in Today’s California. These inspiring stories celebrate a new paradigm for wildlife conservation—coexistence—and explore the evolving dynamic between humans and animals. You’ll hear about P-22, the mountain lion living in the middle of Los Angeles, how Californians are welcoming wolves back to the state after the incredible journey of OR-7, how park staff and millions of visitors rallied to keep Yosemite’s famed bears wild, how Mark Zuckerberg and the staff at Facebook made a home for a family of foxes on their Silicon Valley campus, and many more tales from across the Golden State. A book signing will follow the presentation.

Awards Banquet Menu :

Choice of:

(i.) Grilled New York Steak

(ii.) Seared Fillet of Salmon

(iii.) Grilled Vegetables and Herbed Polenta with Balsamic Glaze

Served with Seasonal Mesclun Greens (with Pickled Beets, Goat Cheese, Pistachio Vinaigrette), Chef’s Vegetables, Roasted Marble Potatoes, Flourless Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Cream, Coffee/Tea, Rolls and Butter.

If you have special dietary restrictions, please let us know when you register. We will do our best to accommodate you. Please note the Peppermill is not able to guarantee non-exposure to allergens used in their kitchen.

Raffle and Silent Auction:

All ticket sales and silent auction purchases support student activities! Raffle tickets will be sold starting at the Tuesday night Welcome Reception and up through the Member’s Meeting on Thursday afternoon. The raffle will be split into two pieces. The first raffle will be a Dutch/Bucket raffle at the end of Wednesday night’s banquet. Place tickets in the buckets for the prizes you hope to win. We will hold a separate raffle on Thursday at the end of the Member’s Meeting.

The silent auction will open on Wednesday and will close during the morning break on Friday. Items must be purchased and picked up by 12:30 p.m. on Friday.

Raffle and auction proceeds support the Western Section’s student programs including travel grants, awards for best papers, and student-mentor activities. We encourage everyone to purchase raffle tickets, which are available at the Registration Desk or from Western Section Executive Board members and volunteers. Raffle and silent auction items will be displayed in the Exhibit Hall in the Capri Ballroom. Please contact Raffle and Silent Auction Chair Sandra Hunt von Arb if you have any questions or would like to donate an item to the raffle and/or auction. pnwb@suddenlink.net

Thursday – Poster Session and Reception:

Thursday, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, February 9
Session Chairs: Carlos Alvarado and Allison Fuller
Poster Session and Reception included with conference registration fee!
Located in the Capri Ballroom

A poster session will be held on the evening of Thursday, February 9th. At this time, authors will be available to answer questions about their posters. Posters will also be available for viewing at other times throughout the week. For more information on poster present guidelines, click here. Posters will be setup Wednesday morning from 10am-12pm. They will be on display for informal viewing from 12pm Wednesday through Friday morning.

The poster session reception is included in the meeting registration price. There is no extra cost to registered meeting participants to attend the Poster Session. Hors d’oeuvres will be served along with several (well-stocked) no-host bars!