Applied Conservation Genetics

Target Audience:

Resource professionals that utilize applied conservation genetic information to evaluate populations/species and make management decisions. This course is designed to provide professionals at all levels with the background and tools needed to evaluate issues from the listing process to recovery and finally delisting.

Summary and Objectives:

Resource professionals are increasingly confronted with issues where genetic data have major implications for the evaluation, management, or restoration of populations. This course is designed to provide resource professionals at the laboratory, field, and management levels with the background and tools to evaluate issues where genetic data play a major role in decision making. Using basic terminology, key concepts and tools, students may be better able to understand and interpret key components of genetic studies (reports, publications and proposals). More specifically, the course aims to identify how genetic information can be used to inform each step of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC) process including biological planning, conservation design, conservation delivery, outcome-based monitoring, and assumption-based research.

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Evaluate information in the genetic scientific literature and explain how it could be used to make management decisions (status reviews, management plans, monitoring, and the listing process).
• Evaluate project proposals and reports and identify if appropriate genetic data collection and analysis methods have been used to answer questions of management concern.
• Describe the benefits and limitations of applying genetic analyses to management issues.
• Identify or develop appropriate study designs using the basic principles of conservation genetics.
• Create captive propagation plans using the basic principles of conservation genetics.
• Understand key concepts and general methods well enough to formulate questions for further discussions with conservation genetic professionals.

Competency Addressed:

Conservation Biology - Intermediate, Genetics - Intermediate, Wildlife and Fisheries Biology Management - Intermediate, Wildlife Biology - Basic, Fishery Biology - Basic