Description: To celebrate Nebraska Invasive Species Awareness Week, invasive species professionals will be hosting Zoom webinars throughout the week! This webinar is presented by Shaun Dunn, Nebraska Natural Heritage Zoologist for Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Pre-registration required:  REGISTER HERE

About the presentation: Not all invasive species are easy to see or detect. The fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (or Pd) causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats resulting in precipitous declines of many bat populations. Introduced to North America in the early 2000s, Pd has spread to almost every state and province in the United States and Canada in just 20 years. While impacts to bat species in North America vary, those impacted by the fungus have experienced a drastic reduction in population numbers (between 60% – 98%). Efforts to mitigate the impacts of Pd have included disinfecting hibernacula, vaccinating bats, and supplemental feeding of bats prior to hibernation. In this webinar we’ll look at how this fungus has moved across North America and the impacts it’s caused along the way.

About the presenter: Shaun Dunn is the Nebraska Natural Heritage Zoologist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (his dream job!). As a zoologist, Shaun keeps track of Nebraska’s herps, insects, and small mammals while also working through mountains of paperwork. His recent projects include searching for spotted skunks, conserving threatened and endangered beetles, and tracking rattlesnakes. Before he was a zoologist, Shaun was lucky enough to work with a variety of taxa including: bats, beetles, carnivores, freshwater mussels, raptors, small mammals, snakes, and songbirds. When he’s not working, Shaun likes to see how many more specimens he can put in his freezer before his wife notices.

There will be opportunity for a Q&A with Shaun after the presentation.