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Papers

Interested in presenting but missed the deadline? contact Kylie Patrick 

Speakers

Dr John Allan is head of the Wildlife Management Programme at the UK Government’s Food and Environment Research Agency. He has worked as a specialist in wildlife management for the past 23 years. His main research interests are the objective assessment of risk from birdstrikes to aircraft and development of audit and best practice standards for bird management on and around airfields. He is Chairman of International Birdstrike Committee (the main professional body for specialists in the field) and received the Mike Kuhring award for achievements in birdstrike prev ention in 2003.

 

Previously part of the Melbourne Airport Operations Department until 2008, Darren is now an Aerodrome Inspector with CASA, and has worked NSW, Vic., and Tas. aerodrome districts. Darren joined the Australian Aviation Wildlife Hazard Group (AAWHG) in 2008 as the principle representative for CASA and also as a member of the AAWHG executive. Darren was appointed as Chairman of the group in 2008 and served in this role until May 2010. Key projects during his career include the upgrade to accommodate the Airbus A380 and the expansion of the Melbourne International Terminal.

 

She is a commonwealth scholar from Pakistan, doing her PhD on Birds and Aircraft safety hazards at Islamabad International Airport. Mrs Arshads studies are split between The Food and Environment Research Agency, UK and Pakistan. She has been introduced to Feras bird remain identification, bird detection radar and GIS services. She has attended a number of training courses run by Fera on Aerodrome bird hazard management and Airport audits. She also visited Germany to learn about German regulations to minimize bird strike hazard. She wishes to apply her knowledge to mitigate bird strike risk at Airports in Pakistan.

Robert is a Radar Ornithologist, and first researched the use of marine radars tomonitor avian hazards while a member of the US Air Force’s BASH team in 1971. His subsequent positions include Distinguished Professor of Biology & Biophysics with the State University of New York; Professor & Head of Biology, University of Louisiana; and Project Leader, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research Center. Bob received his PhD from Clemson University where his dissertation research involved the use of the FAA ARSR system to monitor waterfowl migration hazards to aviation in the Southwestern United States.  He has authored many peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.

 

Mike is a wildlife biologist and has studied and worked in the wildlife management profession since the mid 1980’s and is the current National Coordinator of the United States Department of Agriculture, Airport Wildlife Hazards Program. Previously he worked on the ground assessing and training others to manage wildlife hazards at airports for over 10 years.  He provides national liaison to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Defense, the National Association of State Aviation Officials and the aviation industry as a whole.  His office manages the FAA National Wildlife Strike Database and he works closely with the FAA on guiding applied research activities that investigate wildlife hazards at airports.  Mike is the vice-chairman of Bird Strike Committee-USA and also sits on multiple committees of the National Academies of Science, Airport Cooperative Research Program.

Luit is the former IBSC chairman and served 30 years as the chief ornithologist of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. His passion was the sociobiological understanding of navigation in migratory birds. He is now senior policy advisor Nature within the Dutch Military Aviation Authority. There he is developing an evolutionary view on system safety and resilience engineering

 

Dr. Carter is a board member of the International Bird Strike Committee (IBSC) (North America representative). He is also a board member of CARSAMPAF, the Central and South American Birdstrike Committee. He is the program director for CARSAMPAF’s Education and Training Group, responsible for instructing member countries in the development and implementation of wildlife management programs at airports throughout Central and South America. Dr. Carter is also an expert consultant for ICAO with respect to birdstrike concerns and issues. Dr. Carter has recently conducted aviation SMS and Wildlife Management courses and training for more than 60 countries at locations scattered throughout the world. Dr. Carter has conducted numerous risk assessment courses and workshops and his seminal paper on the development of risk assessment protocols for airfield wildlife programs is currently being utilized by airfields around the world

As former Chief Inspector, Peter was a member of the NSW Police Dog Unit for thirty years and as the Commander since 1998. During that time Peter was responsible for the training and management of over 130 dog teams providing services in all aspects of detection. In 1996 Peter conducted international research in the use of detection dogs, primarily explosives detector dogs for Olympic Security purposes. As a result, he then established and trained a team of thirty operational Explosive Detection Dog Teams. This program proved to be one of the most successful of the Sydney Olympic Security arrangements. Since his retirement from the NSW Police Force, Peter has joined International Dog Academy providing and developing quality working dog programs to both government and private sector clients. These programs include dog and handler training in a broad range of scent and working dog applications

Arie has been a bird strike specialist in the Royal Netherlands Air Force since 1982, heading up the division since 2005. He is also the Chairman of the Bird Strike Risk Advisory Board for the European Space Agency. With a formal background in zoology, Arie is the current co-chair of the Statistics Working Group for the International Bird Strike Committee, has presented at numerous international conferences, and was the Custodian of the European Military Strike Database for 15 years.

 

 

Rebecca has over 15 years experience including as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, James Cook University, Townsville and at Tufts University, Boston USA. Since 2003, Rebecca has established the museum as a leader in wildlife forensics. With a specialist forensics expertise in DNA-identification of animal strike remains. Rebecca’s work in this field has made significant contributions to more targeted management programs at Australian airports.

 

Jerry has over 35 years and 10,000 hours of aviation experience as a major airline and military fighter pilot. As Executive Safety Chairman for the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), he was responsible for solving national aviation issues. With BS, MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering, he has over 22 years of experience with design, development, integration and testing of airborne and ground-based radar systems.

 

 

Jeff is the Principal Research Scientist for the Ecosure-Avisure Group.  He is a wildlife veterinarian, a commercial pilot, a member of the Wildlife Disease Association and of the Australian Society of Air Safety Investigators. He is a PhD supervisor at the University of Queensland and instructs in aerodynamics and meteorology with 213 SQN AAFC.

 

Mr. Merritt has over 15 years experience in researching and developing bird detection radar systems and has been an internationally recognized expert in the field of bird strikes to aircraft for 25 years. Mr. Merritt is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who served as Chief of the Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) Team at the Pentagon and at the Air Force Civil Engineering Support Agency.  As a senior staff scientist he was also an Assistant Professor of biology at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and served a tour with the 463 Tactical Airlift Wing as Headquarters Squadron Commander. DeTect is a small Florida-based company that develops and deploys remote sensing technologies for use in aerospace safety applications, environmental surveillance, airspace monitoring and custom security systems.  DeTect’s Colorado office specializes in remote sensing of upper atmosphere winds for meteorological applications.

Kylie has been involved in developing, implementing and assessing wildlife strike management programs at Australian airporths for nearly seven years, has presented at international conferences, and is responsible for overall management of Avisure’s operations. She is Avisure’s key projects manager, and has developed Avisure’s bird strike management training program.

 

Chris has been involved in the endophyte technology for the last 15 years. Thediscovery of the grass endophyte and its association with animal disorders in New Zealand has led to the development of many specialty grass endophytes that have reduced insect damage, given better drought tolerances and improved stock performances.  This technology is now a reality for wildlife management with turf type low maintenance grasses for airports giving fewer insects and bird numbers.

 

Nick has been responsible for the successful operation of FAR since its formation in March 1995.  Nick is responsible for developing and managing FAR’s strategic direction to ensure the outcomes from the investments in research and extension are delivering benefits to New Zealand arable farmers. Nick also serves on a number of industry, regional and national groups and boards in the primary industry particularly with regard to water, climate change, science and future opportunities for the arable industry.Prior to his current position, Nick had been a Research Scientist for HortResearch, MAF Technology and DSIR

 

 

 

Gary is a wildlife hazard specialist, with global experience including Vancouver International Airport (Canada) Lynden Pindling International Airport (Bahamas) and Changi International Airport (Singapore). He has also conducted bird hazard assessments and developed wildlife management plans for numerous civil and military airports in western Canada as well as airports in Cyprus, Jamaica and the USA and has trained over 100 wildlife hazard management technicians. Gary is the Executive Director of the Bird Strike Association of Canada.

 

Phil is a leading professional in the field of bird strike assessment and mitigation. He is internationally recognized in this field, having completed projects in the Middle East, New Zealand and Australia. He is currently the first and only Australian representative to the International Bird Strike Committee steering committee.

Bill has been a sports turf agronomist for 30 years, providing advice on maintenance, construction and drainage to golf courses, lawn bowling clubs. cricket clubs and sportsgrounds. He has been involved in many turfgrass trials and research projects, especially in the last three years as the turf agronomist for PGG Wrightson Turf. He is the author of many popular articles, over 50 for the NZ Turf Management Journal. At PGG Wrightson Turf he is involved with evaluation and development of new turf cultivars bred in New Zealand.

Will is a zoologist, with particular expertise in ornithology and wetlands. Since 2000, Will has been the primary wildlife hazard management consultant to Melbourne, Avalon and Launceston Airports. He has also held the position of Snr Wildlife & Wetlands Scientist for Melbourne Water, which has involved planning and managing Ramsar sites and sites of high biological significance. In 2008 Will was the Joint winner of the University of Melbourne Christine Foster Award for Best Student.