The 9th World Congress of Herpetology took place in Dunedin, New Zealand, from 5-10 January 2020 and Save The Snakes Communications Coordinator, Hiral Naik, was fortunate enough to attend the conference and present on “The use of social media to educate and increase awareness of snakes”.
International conferences are a great way for people to come together, network and share their research and interests on a specific topic, in this case herpetology. It is an opportunity to get insight on research focus areas, form key collaborations and develop new projects. The 9th World Congress of Herpetology was attended by over 800 delegates from around the world and the five days of plenaries, symposiums and poster sessions provided only a glimpse of this exciting research space. Herpetologists are doing incredible work around the world to ensure that we learn a little bit more about amphibians and reptiles and save the ones that are affected by changing environments. The conference programme with details about the various talks is available here: http://www.wchnz.com/wch2020/programme/programme.
A few talks and posters from the event.
Save The Snakes also attended the conference as an exhibitor and we had a wonderful display of our snake shirts and stickers. We were incredibly busy from Day 1 as delegates came through to buy shirts and learn a bit more about Save The Snakes. Many delegates commended on the exceptional work that Save The Snakes has done and we hope to form some exciting collaborations going forward. In and among being an exhibitor, Hiral Naik, presented on how Save The Snakes has used social media to increase awareness and educate the public about snakes. We have created a huge following on social media and some of our most successful posts are targeted at educating people about snakes and their importance in our ecosystems. Save The Snakes will continue to educate and create awareness about snakes and we thank each and every one of you that supports our vision and mission.
The conference was exceptional, we met many incredible people and we are truly grateful to have attended. A huge thanks to the University of Otago and WCH9 Conference Director, Prof Phil Bishop, for the exceptional hospitality and to the conference organisers that worked day in and day out to ensure that everything went smoothly. Thank you to all the delegates for your support and for making the conference a memorable one. What a fantastic way to kick off 2020! The 10th World Congress of Herpetology will be in four years’ time, in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (August 2024) and we hope to see you there!
