Header Photo Courtesy of Missouri Department of Conservation
Plenary Sessions Overview
PLENARY SESSION I & AWARDS
Monday, January 26, 2026 • 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
PLENARY SESSION 2 & AWARDS
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 • 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Monday, January 26, 2026 • 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
PLENARY SESSION 2 & AWARDS
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 • 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
PLENARY SESSION I & AWARDS
Monday, January 26 • 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Changing Landscape
- 8:00 AM | Welcome Remarks & Posting of Colors
- 8:15 AM | Keynote Presentation: Nature on the Brain; The benefits of nature contact for mental, physical, and cognitive health
- Amy McDonnell, PhD, Colorado State University
- 9:00 AM | Keynote Presentation: Partnering with health care professionals to connect more people to nature, how to get the conversation started
- Roger Still, One Health Conservationist
- 9:45 AM | Awards Presentations:
- The North Central Section of The Wildlife Society Professional Awards | Presented by: Kelsey Flemming, Iowa DNR
- North Central Section Professional Award of Merit
- One award will be recognized for outstanding processional accomplishments in wildlife conservation who are or have recently been active within the geographic boundaries of The Wildlife Society - North Central Section
- North Central Section Professional Award of Merit
- American Fisheries Society Professional Awards | Presented by: Drew Holloway, City of Muncie
- North Central Division - Most Active Chapter Award - Large and Small Chapter
- One award will be given to a large chapter that has carried out the most active programs of enhancing professionalism and fisheries science.
- North Central Division - Best Chapter Communications Award
- One award will be given to the chapter that has developed the most efficient, useful, and attractive newsletter and website to disseminate information to its members.
- One award will be given to the chapter that has developed the most efficient, useful, and attractive newsletter and website to disseminate information to its members.
- North Central Division - Fisheries Excellence Award
- Two awards will be given to North Central Division members who each has made outstanding contributions to the fisheries profession. This contribution may be a single activity or a collection of achievements over the individual’s career.
- North Central Division - Meritorious Service Award
- This award will be given to an individual North Central Division member for their loyalty, dedication, and meritorious service to the Society over a long period of time and for exceptional commitment to the program, objectives, and long-term goals of the Society
- North Central Division - Most Active Chapter Award - Large and Small Chapter
- 10:15 AM | Adjourn
PLENARY SESSION 2 & AWARDS
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 • 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
- 8:00 AM | Welcome & Introductions
- 8:05 AM | Keynote Presentation: Ground Squirrels and Ecosystem Restoration
- Brad Westrich, DNR State Mammologist
- 8:45 AM | Keynote Presentation: How to Love a Forest: Using Effective Communication to Build Public Understanding of Ecosystem Stewardship
- Ethan Tapper, Author and Forester
- What does it mean to love a forest? In this talk, Ethan Tapper, a forester, bestselling author, and content creator from Vermont, will discuss how we can talk about ecosystems and ecosystem stewardship in ways that are deeply impactful, compelling, and understandable to the general public. Ethan’s message is at once compassionate and pragmatic, clear-eyed and hopeful, sobering and inspiring – a powerful new vision for how we can build a world that works for all of its ecosystems and all of its people. Through his writing, his public speaking, and his social media, Ethan and his message reach millions of people each year
- Ethan Tapper, Author and Forester
- 9:45 AM | Award Presentations:
- The North Central Section of The Wildlife Society Student Awards | Presented by: Kelsey Fleming
- North Central Section Student Chapter of the Year
- An exemplary student chapter recognized for its contributions to The Wildlife Society’s mission and goals
- North Central Section Outstanding Undergraduate Student
- One undergraduate student will be recognized for academic achievement, professional experience, and activities in The Wildlife Society
- North Central Section Outstanding Graduate Student
- One undergraduate student will be recognized for academic achievement, professional experience, and activities in The Wildlife Society
- North Central Section Student Chapter of the Year
- The North Central Division of American Fisheries Society Student Awards | Presented by: Drew Holloway
- North Central Division - Most Active Student Subunit Award (Day 2)
- One award will be given to the North Central Division student subunit that has carried out the most active program in developing interest among undergraduate and graduate students in fisheries science and fulfilling the mission of the American Fisheries Society
- North Central Division - Most Active Student Subunit Award (Day 2)
- Janice Lee Fenske Memorial Award | Presented by: Drew Holloway
- The Janice Lee Fenske Memorial Award was created in 2005 to recognize undergraduate and graduate students for their achievements in the field of fisheries or wildlife management. Each year, up to 25 Fenske Memorial Award finalists are selected based on their enthusiasm to protect fisheries and wildlife resources through management activities, selflessness and motivation to teach others, interest in professional involvement, integrity, positive attitude, and compassion. The outstanding students will be announced during this award ceremony.
- 10:15 AM | Adjourn
Featured Presenters
Dr. Amy McDonnell
Neuroscientist | Colorado State University
Dr. Amy McDonnell is a cognitive neuroscientist in the department of psychology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her research is focused on understanding the benefits of immersion in nature for the brain and body. In this work, she exposes research participants to either pictures of nature, virtual reality nature, a 1-hour walk in an arboretum, or a 5-day wilderness camping trip to uncover the influence of different types of nature on mental, physical, and cognitive health.
Neuroscientist | Colorado State University
Dr. Amy McDonnell is a cognitive neuroscientist in the department of psychology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her research is focused on understanding the benefits of immersion in nature for the brain and body. In this work, she exposes research participants to either pictures of nature, virtual reality nature, a 1-hour walk in an arboretum, or a 5-day wilderness camping trip to uncover the influence of different types of nature on mental, physical, and cognitive health.
Ethan Tapper
Forester, storyteller, bestselling author
Ethan Tapper is a forester, digital storyteller, and the bestselling author of How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World. For more than a decade, Ethan has been recognized as a thought-leader in the world of ecosystem stewardship, winning numerous regional and national awards for his work. More recently, he has been recognized as a writer since its publication in 2024, How to Love a Forest has been named the winner of the 2025 New England Book Award for nonfiction and received international acclaim.
Ethan’s message of relationship, responsibility, and hope reaches millions of people each year through his writing, social media channels with hundreds of thousands of followers, and the hundreds of walks, talks, and keynotes that he delivers across North America each year.
Ethan works, writes, hunts, birds, and runs a small consulting forestry business from his home at Bear Island – his 175-acre working forest, homestead, orchard, and sugarbush in Vermont – and plays in his punk band, The Bubs.
Forester, storyteller, bestselling author
Ethan Tapper is a forester, digital storyteller, and the bestselling author of How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World. For more than a decade, Ethan has been recognized as a thought-leader in the world of ecosystem stewardship, winning numerous regional and national awards for his work. More recently, he has been recognized as a writer since its publication in 2024, How to Love a Forest has been named the winner of the 2025 New England Book Award for nonfiction and received international acclaim.
Ethan’s message of relationship, responsibility, and hope reaches millions of people each year through his writing, social media channels with hundreds of thousands of followers, and the hundreds of walks, talks, and keynotes that he delivers across North America each year.
Ethan works, writes, hunts, birds, and runs a small consulting forestry business from his home at Bear Island – his 175-acre working forest, homestead, orchard, and sugarbush in Vermont – and plays in his punk band, The Bubs.
Roger Still
Managing Partner | One Health Advisors
Roger Still, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of One Health Advisors, is currently capping his career working to integrate nature, food, and human health into a tangible approach that can be scaled from his community to others. Still has a wealth of knowledge and experience spanning over twenty-five years from his time as a senior executive at Nature Conservancy and National Audubon Society, in addition to being a consultant to philanthropic, non-profit, and for-profit organizations. He leads partnership development for the Boone County One Health pilot in Columbia, Missouri where he is pioneering methods at the intersection of nature and health through public health campaigns and lifestyle medicine clinics.
Managing Partner | One Health Advisors
Roger Still, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of One Health Advisors, is currently capping his career working to integrate nature, food, and human health into a tangible approach that can be scaled from his community to others. Still has a wealth of knowledge and experience spanning over twenty-five years from his time as a senior executive at Nature Conservancy and National Audubon Society, in addition to being a consultant to philanthropic, non-profit, and for-profit organizations. He leads partnership development for the Boone County One Health pilot in Columbia, Missouri where he is pioneering methods at the intersection of nature and health through public health campaigns and lifestyle medicine clinics.