ASM 2023

Screenshot 2023-08-07 at 15-46-16 13th International Mammalogical Congress.png

BLUE collaborated with The Museums and Emerging Pathogens in the Americas (MEPA) ECHO Network to host a half-day workshop at the joint International Mammalogical Congress and American Society of Mammalogists meeting on July 17, 2023. The half-day workshop entitled “Developing and applying educational modules that link museums, biodiversity literacy, and emerging disease” attracted approximately 30 international participants.

The workshop’s aim was to improve, expand, and increase accessibility of online training resources in mammalogy, biodiversity literacy, and public health and had three primary goals: (1) learn how to build a BLUE lesson, (2) test and improve digital open educational resources for undergraduate and professional educational development in mammalogy and public health, and (3) increase module accessibility through multilingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese) translation, and expanded awareness by connecting with Latin and Indigenous communities.

The workshop was separated into two parts. The first half of the workshop was dedicated to introducing participants to educational principles, the BLUE and MEPA projects, and two undergraduate modules: (1) Sin Nombre Hantavirus and (2) Host Biogeography. Find these modules in BLUE’s OER Library hosted by QUBESHub.

During the second half of the workshop we gathered feedback on the two modules and then worked together in small groups to outline three new modules on Traditional Ecological Knowledge, environmental factors that influence disease, and thinking globally about disease.

Thanks to all of our workshop facilitators and participants for an engaging and productive event!

Workshop facilitators:

Jocelyn Colella, Nicté Ordóñez Garza, Alejandra Monge Camacho, Corey Welch, Donavan Joel Jackson, Felipe Souza Guidinho, Joseph Cook, Robert Nofchissey, Ana Lazar, Marlon Cobos, Anna Monfils, and Molly Phillips

Molly Phillips also served as a BLUE Ambassador and presented a poster during the conference. Here she is displaying her poster with the help of her former graduate advisor, D. Jane Waterman.

Breakout working groups during the workshop.

Dr. Jocelyn Colella presenting during the workshop introduction.