Conservation Genetics and Wildlife Management Course and Workshop: 

Theme: Applications of Genetics in Wildlife Management, Molecular Ecology,
and Conservation Genetics.

When: December 9-15, 2024 at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
UP is one of Africa's top universities and the largest university in
South Africa.

Course Objective: To train participants to understand and use population
genetics principles and DNA-marker data to improve biodiversity
conservation. The course will teach research approaches, monitoring,
data analyses, and interpretation (RADseq, amplicon-seq, targeted
capture, WGseq). The course will help bridge the gap between research
and management to improve conservation (e.g., Allendorf et al. 2022,
Chapter 24). This course is urgently needed and timely given the
extinction crisis and the recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity
Framework in which 196 parties committed to reporting the status of
genetic diversity for all species wild and domestic (Mastretta-Yates
et al. 2024; Hoben et al. 2024).  For details on ConGen-Africa: see
https://www.umt.edu/ces/conferences/congen/africa/

Who should apply: Advanced Undergrads, M.S. & Ph.D. students, post-docs,
faculty, agency researchers, and population biologists. To maximize
benefits from days 3-5, attendees should have taken a course in population
genetics and population ecology - or understand most of Chapters 4-10 in
the book Allendorf et al. 2024). Participation on days 3-5 is limited
to ~30 people to allow efficient instruction with hands-on computer
exercises.

Dates and Content: Monday - Friday, Dec. 9-13, 2024.  9 am to 4
PM daily. The first two days include basic concepts (mechanisms of
evolutionary change) and applications of genetics for conservation. Days
3-5 include hands-on data analysis and interpretation using
microsatellites, SNPs, and next-generation sequence datasets) using
popular programs like Structure, NeEstimator, GeneClass/RUBIAS, and
packages in Rstudio on days 4-5.

You will learn (or review) the following including real-life examples
(as in the book Allendorf et al. 2022):

  1.  mechanisms of evolutionary change: genetic drift, gene flow,
      selection, & mutation (days 1-2)
  2.  importance of testing for Hardy-Weinberg proportions and linkage
      disequilibrium (some basic knowledge of HW- and LD-testing is
      recommended mainly for days 3-5)
  3.  basic use of R (writing simple command line arguments to make
      graphs, and conduct statistical tests, including HW tests and PCAs
      for population structure assessment. We'll teach use of R and
      command line programs during an online Zoom lecture one week
      before the course. R is the most widely used software and language
      in statistics and biology and increasingly for population genetics
      (Pardis 2020; Jombart & Ahmed 2011; Kamvar et al. 2015, 2016;
      Kardos & Luikart 2021; Kardos et al. 2022; Hemstrom & Jones 2023;
      Zhang et al. 2023; Yang et al. 2023; Jenkins 2024; Bailey 2024).
  4.  Participants should have an advanced understanding of spoken and
      written English

Field trips to Kruger National Park & Mabula Hornbill Sanctuary are
possible, including wildlife safari drives (TBA).

Main Instructors: Gordon Luikart, Will Hemstrom, Other local and
international instructors to be announced

"Luikart, Gordon" <gordon.luikart@mso.umt.edu>

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