WDA Dialogues and Science Cafés

Meaningful discussion and debate, where people can network, learn from each other, and potentially find common ground for action, lies at the heart of every conference. This year, the WDA 2025 Annual International Conference in Victoria, British Columbia embraces this ideal wholeheartedly with multiple ways for you to connect with others, share ideas, and develop future collaborations.

In addition to the diverse cutting edge wildlife health presentations of the General Sessions and the groundbreaking virtual Global Voice platform uniting wildlife professionals around the world, WDA Dialogues and the Science Café offer two new opportunities to communicate with this extraordinary community.

The Dialogues will create engaging two-way conversations around a specific theme with the discussion facilitated by experts in this field. These themes will include: Pathways for the Future, Ready for Careers, Wildlife Health Intelligence, Best Practices in Community Collaboration, and Mobilizing Science to Policy. The goal is for session participants to contribute through a guided conversation arriving at new insights or actions. Summaries of each Dialogue and the lessons learned will be shared on the last day of the conference.

The Science Café will be dedicated to ad hoc discussions, providing a space for those who want to talk further about an issue raised at the conference, discuss an issue critical to their work, provide opportunities for peer-to-peer support, or spark the next great idea or collaboration – whatever you want to focus on. Booking the Science Café room will be essential and offered on a first-come first-served basis (process to be announced). It will have AV equipment available but the organization of each Cafe will be the sole responsibility of those who book/set up their session.

Everyone is welcome to be part of these new initiatives designed to bring together many voices with a common vision.