Continuing Education Courses

These courses require an enrollment fee; however, no other prerequisites are required. Each course consists of a series of lecture videos, with a self-assessment required for CE. Once the assessment is complete, the participant can print a certificate of completion.

Conservation Medicine – 9 CE Hours – Instructor: Hayley R. Adams, DVM, Ph.D., DACVPM, DACVM

The discipline of conservation medicine results from a long evolution of trans-disciplinary thinking, merged from the health and ecological sciences.  This CE course will help to familiarize you with the issues of modern conservation medicine through case studies and applied techniques. Conservation medicine stresses the importance of recognizing that human health, animal health, and ecosystem health are inextricably interdependent. This CE course will provide you with an overview of case studies in Conservation Medicine.  For a more in-depth study of this topic please see the full length semester course WIS5562.

Human-Wildlife Conflict – 11 CE Hours – Instructor: Hayley R. Adams, DVM, Ph.D., DACVPM, DACVM

Today one of the more pressing issues faced by conservationists is that of human-wildlife conflict (HWC). As humans encroach onto natural habitats, and conservationists restore habitat and repopulate with wildlife, there is increasing overlap at the interface between humans and wildlife. At the interface, even endangered and protected species impose serious impacts on human lives & livelihoods.  Predators kill humans & livestock; elephants destroy crops and trample humans. Humans act out in protection of their lives, their resources, or in retaliation. True conservation requires a realistic coexistence at this interface.

This course introduces the student to the issues of HWC both in historical context & present-day conservation.  We will explore a variety of solutions, including innovative and traditional agricultural practices, hunting & tourism as potential means of off-setting the cost of wildlife damage, & policy development at the local, regional, and national or international levels that aims to remediate this conflict.  Ultimately, we must aim for prevention of HWC, however until this lofty goal is achieved, we must implement practical & culturally appropriate solutions. Wildlife forensics plays a key role in assisting conservationists with the tools they need to investigate wildlife crime as it relates to HWC.

Wildlife Toxicology – 12 CE Hours – Instructor: Hayley R. Adams, DVM, Ph.D., DACVPM, DACVM

Conservationists in the modern world face numerous challenges, including the complexities associated with pervasive environmental contamination by an array of chemicals originating from agricultural, industrial, municipal, and residential sources. Toxins may contribute to stress, poor health, reproductive or behavioral changes, and death in exposed wildlife.  Population health & biodiversity are also affected by environmental contaminants. In addition to the indirect impacts, wildlife can be victims of intentional toxicities, which warrant further investigation in order to differentiate whether the death(s) are due to natural or unintentional causes.

This course provides a global assessment of toxicological stressors, including pesticides, environmental contaminants, and other emerging chemical threats, and reviews the impact on wildlife, through an ecohealth perspective. Case studies will be used to highlight emerging issues in global wildlife and ecotoxicology, and to examine the impacts of how such cases have brought about policy and regulatory decisions related to environmental protection.

Working Dogs in Conservation – 7 CE Hours – Instructor: Hayley R. Adams, DVM, Ph.D., DACVPM, DACVM

The value of the canine nose is well-documented, and working dogs are being increasingly utilized for their olfactory skills in conservation. Dogs are used in conservation forensic science, in the calculation of population trends of endangered species, in the eradication of invasive species in protected environments, in the identification of disease, and in the identification of infestations and chemical contaminants.