CWHC Annual General Meeting

In June of this year, the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative had its first annual general meeting since the pandemic.  Staff travelled to the Atlantic regional centre in Charlottetown for three days of meetings.  The first day featured presentations by the regional and national offices with an emphasis on finding ways to collaborate.  The second day included topics of concern for the CWHC with discussions on avian influenza and data management.  The final day included presentations on building relationships with Indigenous partners in the work that we do.

At this meeting the first ever Innovation in Research award was presented to Dr. Laura Bourque.  Dr. Bourque created the monthly CWHC Wildlife Rounds, which can be attended virtually by members of the CWHC network, including federal and provincial wildlife health professionals as well as CWHC staff.  The wildlife rounds were initially created at a time when the pandemic had shut things down and were a way for the staff to stay connected.

In addition to the meetings, staff were given the opportunity to socialize outside of office hours.  The CWHC staff were treated to a lobster supper in New Glasgow, they participated in a trivia night at Upstreet Brewing and toured PEI national park, Greenwich.

It was important for the staff to get together and rebuild relationships after not having the opportunity to meet face to face for so long.  For many this was the first time they were able to meet in person.  Thank you to the CWHC Atlantic staff for hosting this great event. See you all next year!