Pathways Conference

10/22/2026

Find your community -- your professional home -- with Pathways at SHDW!

10/20/2026

It's Birdability Week! Are you attending any of the webinars?

Birdability Week Is Almost Here!

And wow, have you all been busy.

In the days ahead, over 150 Birdability Week outings and events are happening in communities across the U.S., in Canada, and all the way to Thailand.

There are Big Sits and Little Sits. Slow birding and mindful birding. Accessible trail walks and stationary birding. Programs created with blind and visually impaired birders, d/Deaf and hard of hearing birders, neurodivergent birders, wheelchair users, people with aphasia, people with energy-limiting conditions, and birders with many different disabilities and other health concerns in mind.

There is bird bingo in Florida. An owl sit in Chicago and an owl prowl nearby. ASL-interpreted birding in Maryland and Vermont. Birding with Friends of Aphasia in Tucson. Stationary birding with Shepherd Center in Atlanta. A Birdability Site Review Party in California. A birdy fashion show in Maryland. Bird sits at Biosphere 2 and along the Maine coast. Accessible outings from Vermont to Texas, Washington to North Carolina, Rhode Island to Arizona, and so many places in between.

And some communities have planned events throughout the entire week.

This is what Birdability Week can look like: communities creating more ways to participate, more ways to connect, and more ways to bird where you are.

Birdability Week officially begins Monday, October 19, but community events start THIS WEEKEND.

Find something happening near you, invite somebody to come along, or choose your own way to bird. All the events are on our webpage https://www.birdability.org/birdability-week

October 19–25, 2026
Birdability Week 2026 : Bird Where You Are

Image description in comments due to space

10/19/2026

NEW member Mondays, highlighting our SHDW members! Meet Rachel Lange, Program Leader at Parks and Wildlife.

Within conservation, Rachel leads a team focused on development impact assessment and associated avoidance and minimization opportunities. Social science interests Rachel as a tool to increase implementation of the conservation guidance delivered by her team.

Welcome, Rachel!

10/16/2026

Connecting with people around the world in human dimensions of wildlife work is why we do what we do!

Full testimonial:
"My MSc dissertation and PhD thesis field works revealed to me the dire need for social approach in solving many wildlife conservation problems but almost all our professors in Nigeria as at then (2000) were predominantly in ecology, domestication, park or range management. Accessibility to Internet was also very limited back then; then I saw the advertisement for the maiden edition of Pathways in 2008 but the letter of invitation came late for proper planning but I was able to attend the 2nd edition, thanks to CSU part scholarship that took care of the registration and training as well as accomodations and ground transportation. I have been privileged to attend two other pathways conferences after 2010 but none was like that first experience because it was a Pathfinder and an opener for me. It was so inspirational that I returned to Nigeria with many research questions that cut across nutrition, extension, human-wildlife conflict, climate issues and education. It was my very first international travel experience. It was interesting to meet Prof Michael Manfredo and Jerry Vaske. I must specially thank Ms Duke Esther in particular, she has very good human relations. It occurred to me that CSU must have wanted people to come from this part of the world to have given me such a wonderful support and monitoring till I arrived at Estes Park. Once again thank you so much and God bless CSU and Pathways conference."

- Oladapo Olukoya Oduntan, Ph.D., Professor of Human-Wildlife Interaction and Management, Department of Forestry and Wildfire Management, College of Environmental Resources Management, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

10/13/2026

Highlighting one of our founding members of the Board of Directors for the Society for Human Dimensions of Wildlife: Anita Morzillo!

Anita is an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at the UConn . Anita’s research focuses on interactions between human activities and natural resources, applying tools from both natural and social science to understand relationships between them. Broad research areas include landscape ecology and human dimensions of natural resource management.

Thank you for your service, Anita! We are lucky to have you on our Board!

09/28/2026

When we bring our community together, networking is always on the agenda. But traditional mixer-style networking can sometimes feel awkward or transactional—especially for students and early-career professionals trying to break into the field.

We want to design future conference experiences that offer real, high-impact mentorship, and we want to hear from you:

What is the best mentorship event, format, or structure you’ve ever experienced at a conference, and why did it work so well? For example,
> was it speed-mentoring with structured prompts?
> a thematic roundtable over breakfast?
> a field-based activity that naturally broke the ice?

Drop your best ideas, past successes, or even what not to do in the comments below. Let’s build something better for the next gathering!

09/21/2026

“Thank you so much for organizing such a fantastic event. I had a great time connecting with other attendees and will have pleasant memories.” – Anonymous attendee

At the heart of every gathering we host are the people, the conversations, and the lasting connections formed in between the sessions. Reading notes like this reminds us why we do what we do.

09/15/2026

If you could attend our next conference anywhere in the world, where would it be?

We are deep in the planning and brainstorming phase for our future conferences, and location is everything. We want a destination that inspires big ideas, brings our community together, and accommodates the incredible researchers and practitioners in our field.

Whether it's an urban hub dealing with unique human-wildlife dynamics, a gateway to wild landscapes, or a completely new region we haven’t explored yet—we want to know what's on your travel wishlist. Let us know by commenting on this post!

09/08/2026

Some more photos and videos from this year’s Pathways conference – we had a great time with all of you this summer!

08/31/2026

We don’t have all the answers—and we want to do better!

When we host our conferences, creating spaces for meaningful connection and mentorship is always a top priority. But if we're being completely honest, traditional networking formats don’t always hit the mark. Especially for first-timers at the Pathways conference, we know there is plenty of room for us to improve how we facilitate connections.

We want to design future events that truly serve our community, especially our students and early-career professionals. To do that, we need to learn from what's working elsewhere.

What is the best mentorship event, format, or structure you’ve ever experienced at a conference, and why did it work so well?

Whether it was a brilliant ex*****on or a clever twist on a standard networking style, we want to steal the best ideas. Drop your thoughts in the comments below—help us build something better for the next gathering!