Since its inception in 2001 the fledgling Ohio Avian Ecology and Conservation Conference has had the goal of bringing in scholars from universities in and around Ohio, but most consistently brings in researchers and presenters from Ohio State, said organizer Dave Scott.

The third conference, held last Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Fawcett Center on Olentangy Road, was no different as four representatives from OSU spoke throughout the day to audience members about such topics as forest conservation and the long-term monitoring of forest birds.

The presenters from OSU were Paul Rodewald, assistant professor in the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences; Kristin Mylecraine, a post-doctoral researcher in the College of Biosciences; Amanda Rodewald, an assistant professor of wildlife ecology in the School of Natural Resources; and David Horn, a professor of entomology in the College of Biological Sciences.

Rodewald, who relayed her research on riparian forests (streamside forests) during the conference, has been a speaker at each of the conferences.

“It’s given conservationists and ecologists in Ohio a wonderful opportunity to talk with each other and hear about ongoing research,” she said. “I think that facilitates collaboration.”

The conference began in 2001 with the sponsorship of organizations including the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Scott said that it began as a way to get ecologists, biologists, organizations and people interested in agriculture and wildlife together and “get them up to speed on what’s going on in our backyard.”

Scott Hull, the event’s other organizer, said that interaction and collaboration is a major part of the conference’s goals but that it has been difficult to engage researchers from other universities because of the conference’s beginner status.

However, the conference had little trouble attracting “average birders” from around the state as the theme for this year’s conference was “Citizen Science.”

Hull said that the theme was implemented to address the question “How do we get the everyday Joe engaged in the scientific community?”

Horn addressed the effect of increasing human habitation and its influence on bird populations in Hocking County in southeast Ohio, during his afternoon presentation in which he explained his long-term research monitoring bird species.

Rodewald also spoke of the effects that human involvement, in particular urban sprawl, has had on ecological communities in Ohio.

“It seems that urban development is affecting a lot of key local resources,” she said. “We need to spend much more effort on better limiting sprawl and development near reserves.”