The joint meeting of the International Primatological Society (IPS) and the American Society of Primatologists (ASP) was held in Chicago, IL from August 21-27th. It was predicted to be the largest primatological gathering in the last 20 years.
On behalf of NAPSA, I spoke twice at this event.
As part of "Teaching Primatology in the 21st Century: Bringing Primates to the Students When You Can't Take Students to the Primates," a workshop on primatology education, I presented "Sanctuary and Student Synergy: Primatology through Retired Primates." My talk focused on how students and teachers (of all grade levels) can work with sanctuaries to learn about primates and the issues affecting their welfare.
I also presented during one of the Poster Sessions. My poster, "Collaboration for Sustainability: Successful Retirement of Captive Primates," was geared to towards the research-heavy ASP crowd. Increasingly, laboratories are considering sanctuary retirement of their primates, so it is important that NAPSA educate the non-sanctuary community about what is needed for primate retirements. Primate retirement is a complex process that must be financially feasible and practical for all parties involved.
My poster was featured later in the week on a round-table discussion of the ethics of primate retirement, although I was not able to attend that segment.
My time in Chicago flew by, but it was wonderful to meet up with coworkers and other experts in the field!
