Largest ever gathering of delegates at All-Ireland Mammal Symposium (AIMS2024) in ATU

“The All-Ireland Mammal Symposium, hosted by Atlantic Technological University (ATU) in Galway city last week (4 and 5 Oct 2024), recorded the biggest ever gathering of people for a conference on mammals in Ireland, more than doubling the attendance of the two recent events in 2015 and 2019”, says Dr Allan McDevitt, lecturer and researcher in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, ATU Galway-Mayo. 

It was agreed that these conferences would be held every two years from now on and the next will be held in Northern Ireland for the first time.

Presentations ranged from academia, government (Republic and Northern Ireland) and consultancies covering everything from research to management and policy. Presentations from Early Career researchers (postgraduates in particular) made up the largest proportion of presentations. Overall, over 200 delegates attended the symposium and over 60 papers were presented.

“Many wild mammals in Ireland are facing increasing conservation pressures, with concerns around the long-term future of several native species such as the red squirrel for example, says Dr McDevitt. “In contrast, certain other mammal species bring different pressures such as those which require some form of management or control. These include invasive species, for example American mink predating on birds, species which may spread disease to livestock, for example badgers, or cause damage to forestry (deer). With many of these issues requiring complex solutions, gathering together scientists and practitioners from across the spectrum of academia, government, wildlife charities and consultancies continues to be of the upmost importance in tackling these big questions.”

On Friday (4 Oct), the opening keynote by Dr Samantha Ball of ATU covered the ecology of hares at Dublin ‘Hareport’, with sessions covering disease in Irish mammals and its implications for domestic animals, and the increasing use of non-invasive genetic methods to monitor mammals and bats.

The second day, Saturday, introduced a keynote from Dr Josh Twining of Oregen State University, USA, who spoke about the use of complex models to estimate mammal abundance, with sessions following on marine mammals and squirrels to name a few.

The 5th All-Ireland Mammal Symposium (AIMS2024) took place in ATU Galway (Dublin Road campus) on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 October. The conference gathered together over 200 people from across Irish universities, government bodies and industry to deal with the pressing questions relating to Irish mammals and foster collaboration, bridging cutting-edge research emerging from Irish universities to on-the-ground application in terms of monitoring, managing and conserving Irish mammals into the future. Over 60 presentations were given, covering every aspect of mammal conservation in Ireland, with every key group of species covered.

AIMS held its first gathering in 2009 in Waterford, with three further editions occurring up until 2019 in Dublin. With the COVID pandemic restricting the holding of conference events for several years, there was a lengthy hiatus. One of the co-founders of the 2009 event, Dr Allan McDevitt of Atlantic Technological University (ATU), met with Dr Colin Lawton of the University of Galway to discuss resurrecting the conference. This led to the establishment of an organising committee spanning the two universities and including external members from the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS), Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) and more. With the kind sponsorship of NPWS, VWT, ATU, Galway City and County Councils and consultancies Scott Cawley and MKO, the event was given the go ahead to be held in ATU in early October (2024).

For further information contact Regina Daly, ATU Communications Officer
Tel: +353 (0)91 742826 Mob: +353 (0)879618355
regina.daly@atu.ie  www.atu.ie/news