European Vertebrate Management Conference

Welcome

Dear Friends, dear Colleagues,

we would like to warmly invite you to attend the 14th European Vertebrate Management Conference (EVMC 2025), which will be organized in Ankaran, Slovenia, between 12th and 16th May 2025.

The conference is a next step in a chain of previous meetings known as EVPMCs, but this time without P (for pest) as there was a general agreement to omit any possible stigmatization of different vertebrate species and, consequently, allow the event to be more inclusive. Even more so than in the past, it will be a platform to present insights into recent findings on vertebrate ecology, ecosystem role/value of different species, hunting, behaviour, intra- and interspecific interactions as well as human-wildlife coexistence, conflicts, and population management. In this respect, the number of emerging topics and new scientific findings that will be presented at the conference is expected to further increase.

The conference will focus on the newest and the most exciting topics covering a wide range of disciplines and taxa including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, small mammals, lagomorphs, ungulates, mesocarnivores, and large predators. Specific symposia will include the following topics: Ecology, physiology and behaviour; Taxonomy and genetics; Population monitoring and management; (Invasive) alien vertebrates; Crops and urban systems; Health, zoonotic pathogens and parasites; Rodenticide resistance; New tools and methods; Human-animal conflicts and Social dimension; and Free topics.

During the conference, the broad international community of scientists and experts in vertebrate ecology, conservation and management will have opportunity to share own experience and the latest scientific findings, but also to renew friendships and increase collaboration at a global scale.

We hope you will be able to attend EVMC 2025, and that the event will present a memorable experience for you!

See you in Ankaran, Slovenia!

Boštjan Pokorny and Jens Jacob,

on behalf of the Organizing Committee and the International Steering Committee

COMMITTEES

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, SLOVENIA

Faculty of Environmental Protection
Boštjan Pokorny
Samar Al Sayegh Petkovšek
Zarja Platovšek
Milena Ževart
Lea Komerički Kotnik
Saša Zagode Burič

 

University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies
Elena Bužan

 

University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty
Hubert Potočnik
Ivan Kos
Klemen Jerina

INTERNATIONAL STEERING
COMMITTEE

Ann-Charlotte Heiberg, Denmark
Emil Tkadlec, Czech Republic
Emiliano Mori, Italy
Etienne Benoit, France
Giovanna Massei, UK
Goran Jokic, Serbia
Graham Smith, UK
Herwig Leirs, Belgium
Jens Jacob, Germany – CHAIR
Joachim Pelz, Germany
Jordi Figuerola, Spain
Linda Bjedov, Croatia
Marco Zaccaroni, Italy
Otso Huitu, Finland
Philippe Berny, France
Valeria Mazza, Italy
Virginie Lattard, France
Zbigniew Borowski, Poland

SCIENTIFIC INFO

TOPICS

Ecology, physiology and behaviour
Taxonomy and genetics
Population monitoring and management
Human-animal conflicts and social dimension
(Invasive) alien vertebrates
Crop and urban systems
Health, zoonotic pathogens and parasites
Rodenticide resistance
New tools and methods
Free topics

PLENARY SPEAKERS

National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Dracea”, Brasov, Romania

Ancuta Fedorca, PhD in Landscape Genetics, has spent twelve years leading endeavours on conservation genetics and sustainable use of biological diversity. This included multiple international and national research projects focusing on environmental research and enhancing the implementation of genetic diversity in conservation policy. Ancuta is now leading the COST Action GENOA (CA23121) as an extensive network of scientists, practitioners, and decision-makers, aiming to co-create and improve the procedures, methods and data on genetic diversity (indicators) and co-develop tailored dissemination packages to reach out stakeholders to enable a better understanding of genetic diversity information. As an internationally recognized scientist, she has several relevant publications in top scientific journals. Ancuta leads several professional groups, such as the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group (European side), and is an active Conservation Genetics Specialist Group member.

Title of plenary talk: Genetic insights for advanced conservation and management of large carnivores

Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Norway

Atle Mysterud (55 years old) is a professor of ecology at the University of Oslo, Norway. His main recurrent theme of research is foraging ecology, migration, life history and population ecology of large mammals, in particular ungulates. He is interested in how foraging ecology affect life history, and the feedback of life history back on foraging ecology. Another specific theme is how human harvesting affects populations directly through mortality, indirectly by changing behavioural ecology of rut affecting demography, and by selectively removing particular phenotypes. He has worked extensively with climate effects on ecosystems. Mysterud is working more and more with disease ecology. He studies ticks and tick-borne diseases, in particular Lyme disease, and how incidence of disease is dependent on the vertebrate host community, land use and climate. Chronic wasting disease of cervids and its management is a main current interest, and he is interested in bridging field of veterinary epidemiology with wildlife ecology. Mysterud has (co)authored more than 300 primary research papers, being cited more than 30,000 times and has an H-index of 88 in Google Scholar. He is elected member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (DNVA) and the Royal Norwegian Society of Science and Letters (DKNVS).

Title of plenary talk: Hunting and management of chronic wasting disease in cervids in North America and Europe

Head of the Conservation Genomics Research Unit and Platform for Animal, Environmental and Antique DNA, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, S. Michele all’Adige (TN), Italy
National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), S.c.a.r.l. Palermo, Italy

Heidi C. Hauffe (ORCID 0000-0003- 3098-8964) began her research career in 1986 as a field assistant at the Desert Ecological Research Unit studying Namib beetle behaviour, followed by an undergraduate degree in Zoology with Anthropology and a DPhil on the role of chromosome fusions in wild Italian house mice, both at the University of Oxford. She moved (for love!) to Italy in 1993 and held postdoctoral positions at the Universities of York and Pavia, as well as the Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czechia, while raising two children. She founded the first animal conservation genetics laboratory in the Autonomous Province of Trento, Italy, in 1997, i.e. at the Centre for Alpine Ecology, and became a permanent Senior researcher at the Fondazione E. Mach when her laboratory was moved to S. Michele all’Adige in 2009. There, she led the Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology from 2011-2021. She and her group of amazing technicians and researchers at the Conservation Genomics Unit and Platform for Animal, Environmental and Antique DNA are specialized in the analysis of environmental (non-invasive) DNA, working closely with wildlife offices to apply practical conservation genetics and genomics to the management of large carnivores, freshwater fish and hunted species, as well as developing protocols to measure amphibian genetic diversity from water samples, and mammalian diet, gut flora and pathogens from fecal samples, using many of the currently available NGS technologies. Her basic research is currently focussed on the role of microbiota in animal conservation and ecosystem rewilding. Throughout her career, Heidi has tutored PhD students and postdocs from various Italian and international universities, including five MSCA Fellows. She has been team leader and partner in a number of EU-funded projects, including FP6 EDEN, FP7 EDENext, FP7 CONGRESS, EUREGIO MICROVALU and HEU BEPREP, and maintains numerous local, national and international collaborations with universities, museums, parks, and government offices. Although her days are filled with manuscripts, grant writing and administrative problem solving, she still manages to occasionally escape to fieldwork that requires hiking boots, networking over (Italian) coffee, mentoring passionate students, and local outreach events.

Title of plenary talk: Mighty mice and hybridizing hares: what rodents and lagomorphs tell us about chromsomes, conservation and climate change

IREC (Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos/National Institute on Wildlide Research), Ciudad Real, Spain

Joaquin Vicente Baños, PhD in Veterinary Sciences, works in the fields of wildlife monitoring and epidemiology and disease control in wildlife, especially focusing on human-wildlife-livestock interface under the One Health (OH) Approach. He is an author of >200 articles in international impact journals, many of these published in the most prestigious of these fields, such as Science, Journal of Animal Ecology, Ecological Indicators, Emerging Infectious Diseases, or Mammal Review. He has recently coordinated 2 European projects, ENETWILD and MammalNet, both funded by the European Food and Safety Authority involving 15 partners. These projects aim at improving wildlife population monitoring at international level, which is the basis for further risks assessment, analysis of determinants of disease emergence at multiple interfaces and early detection, and finally, development and application of policies (e.g., African Swine Fever in Europe). He also coordinated the development of farm biosecurity plans against wildlife in extensive cattle and pig (Spain, Eastern Europe), so as intensive pig production. He co-coordinates the European Observatory of Wildlife (EOW), a network of “observation points” capable to monitor wildlife population and diseases at European level under OH approach. He has participated in 30 projects of competitive national and international research, being the leader on 6. Joaquin has obtained 15 research contracts with public companies and Institutions (e.g., FAO, EuFMD), private ones and four patents. He is also an advisor as hearing expert for EFSA and FAO; (Codex Alimentarius) and at national level for the Ministry de Agriculture. Joaquin Vicente has presented over 200 communications at international conferences. He supervised 12 PhD. He has also guided 25 career projects and Master thesis. He has been an evaluator of research projects for the Spanish National Evaluation Agency (ANEP) and other countries.

Title of plenary talk: Barriers to optimize integrated One Health monitoring including wildlife

University of Debrecen, Hungary
Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Protection, Department of Nature Conservation Zoology and Game Management

László Kövér is an Assistant professor at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. He wrote his Ph.D. thesis on crow ecology (Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix) in urban environment. He studied the expansion of crows in relation to nesting characteristics. Later, due to wing-tag method he could examine the movement pattern and area fidelity of crows. In recent years Laszlo has been focusing different human-wildlife conflicts, especially caused by Corvids. He spent the last four months in Tanzania, where he participated in a research project on the invasive Indian House Crow (Corvus splendens). Beside different conflicts caused by crows, Laszlo also interested in the conservation side too, that’s why he made a visitation to island of Guam (Rota), where he studied the world’s most endangered crow species, the Marian Crow (Corvus kubaryi).

Title of plenary talk: Human-crow conflicts from Europe to Africa

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME

Coming soon.

GENERAL INFO

ABOUT ANKARAN

The small seaside town of Ankaran, with around 3,200 inhabitants, is situated on the Adriatic coast, in the immediate vicinity of the Debeli Rtič Nature Park, famous for its exceptional landscape and natural diversity. The Ankaran peninsula, where the town is located, is characterised by an unspoilt flysch coastline with bays (the most famous being the bay of St. Jernej), cliffs, seashells dune (the shellfish cemetery in the Polje Bay is well worth a visit), wetlands and grasslands, among which the Mediterranean salt meadow stands out, the only one of its kind in Slovenia and one of the few on the eastern Adriatic coast.

The 11th-century Benedictine monastery of St Nicholas is located on the conference site, while the preserved villa of the noble Galli family and numerous World War II monuments (bunkers, firing ranges, observation tower) can be admired on the hillside above the town.

The mild Mediterranean climate, the high biodiversity on land and sea, the rich cultural heritage, the proximity to the Slovenian capital (Ljubljana is only an hour’s drive away) and the good cuisine make Ankaran an ideal location for the EVMC 2025.

We look forward to welcoming you to this picturesque place!

Ankaran

CONFERENCE VENUE

Adria Ankaran Hotel & Resort

Jadranska cesta 25, 6280 Ankaran, Slovenia

HOW TO REACH THE VENUE

For transport from the closest airport, you can choose between different options as follows:

Trieste Airport (Trieste, Italy)

Trieste Airport (TRS), in italian “Aeroporto di Trieste – Friuli Venezia Giulia”, also known by its previous name “Trieste – Ronchi dei Legionari Airport”, is an international airport west of Ronchi dei Legionari (Province of Gorizia), near Trieste in Venezia Giulia, in the north-eastern Italy. Trieste Airport is the ideal gateway to an area where Latin, Germanic and Slavic cultures merge. This merging have given rise to a unique multicultural heritage. The airport is only 55 km from Ankaran and it is the best way to access Ankaran.

Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJU), in slovenian “Letališče Jožeta Pučnika Ljubljana”, also known by its previous name “Brnik Airport”, is the international airport of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Ljubljana Airport has good connections to nearby cities and offers good services. The airport is located 118 km from Ankaran and 25 km from the Ljubljana capital.

Venice Marco Polo Airport (Venice, Italy)

Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) has the best international connections. From there you can reach Venice and the most beautiful Italian cities in the area by train (Trenitalia). It is located 165 km from Ankaran.

Treviso Antonio Canova Airport (Treviso, Italy)

Treviso Airport is located in the Veneto region, west of Treviso and north of Venice. Some airlines use the name “Venice Treviso Airport” and thus emphasize its proximity to Venice. It is 160 km from Ankaran and 40 km from Venice.

For transport between airports and Ankaran you can choose between different options as follows:

GoOpti

GoOpti is a Slovenian company which organizes transports for smaller groups of people between different airports and places in Slovenia. It is the most used way to travel to and from the airports. The prices vary depending on the traveling distance and time frame that you choose (a strict time for pick up or drop off or a wider time). Highest price guarantees you fastest possible transport to the selected destination and the lower allows a bit more flexible time frame, which in practice means you could wait up to a few hours at the airport. You pay in advance, and the day before the transfer you receive SMS with the exact time for pick up and contact information of the driver.
You can book the transfer with GoOpti easily on their booking site which is user-friendly:

Shuttle bus (NOMAGO or FLIXBUS)

Bus lines are connecting airports mostly with bigger cities (Trieste, Ljubljana), but also Koper is accessible with 0-1 stop. The most used companies in this area are NOMAGO and FLIXBUS. You can book the shuttle online and print out your tickets. Shuttle is cheaper than GoOpti, but not so comfortable. From Trieste it might be the easiest way to take a shuttle because it is very close.

ACCOMMODATION

Below please find some suggested hotels located near the Conference Venue.

Adria Ankaran Hotel & Resort

Welcome to Ankaran, a window on the Mediterranean world located between Trieste and Piran. Only a few steps from the sea, in the shade of old pine trees and olive trees, in these green oasis it offers numerous possibilities for active vacation and a peaceful refuge from everyday life.

Hotel Grand Koper ****

Welcome to the GRAND KOPER hotel. A place for your GRAND vacation. Central location. Food that caresses your tastebuds. Designer interiors. Waking up to the sea views.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

English will be the official language of the Conference.

IMPORTANT DATES

Registration: from 11 Sep 2024 onward
The deadline for abstract submission: 31 Oct 2024
Programme available: 31 Dec 2024
Early-bird end: 31 Jan 2025
Start of the conference: 12 May 2025

REGISTRATION FEE

(without excursion and gala dinner)

Participants (early-bird) . . . . . . . 300 EUR
Participants (regular) . . . . . . . 400 EUR
Students, also PhD (early-bird) . . . . . . . 200 EUR
Students, also PhD (regular) . . . . . . . 250 EUR
One-day (all participants) . . . . . . . 100 EUR

REGISTRATION

Please select type of participation: *
Please select topics where you would like to participate (multiple-choice option) *
Do you have any dietary requirements/restrictions (multiple-choice option)? *

For abstract submission see the Abstract page.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

The same author may submit more than one contribution. Use of template is mandatory.
Submission is final – there is no opportunity to amend abstracts after submission.

The deadline for abstract submission is 31 Oct 2024.

Download abstract template.

UPLOAD ABSTRACT

Suggested symposium *
Suggested type of presentation *
Would you like to submit a full paper from your contribution to a special issue of Pest Management Science? *

The deadline for submission is 1 July 2025. Note: if selected, this submission will go through regular peer-review – please be realistic.

Suggested symposium
Suggested type of presentation
Would you like to submit a full paper from your contribution to a special issue of Pest Management Science?

The deadline for submission is 1 July 2025. Note: if selected, this submission will go through regular peer-review – please be realistic.

Suggested symposium
Suggested type of presentation
Would you like to submit a full paper from your contribution to a special issue of Pest Management Science?

The deadline for submission is 1 July 2025. Note: if selected, this submission will go through regular peer-review – please be realistic.

For more than three contributions, please contact us via the Contact and request page.

NEWS

Launch of website

September 11th, 2024|

We are pleased that the official webpage of EVMC[...]

PARTNERS AND ORGANIZERS

SPONSORS

Coming soon.

CONTACT AND REQUEST