Join us for the 16th North American Crane Workshop to be held in Baraboo, Wisconsin, 23-26 October 2023. The theme of this year’s workshop will be “50 Years of Crane Conservation: Challenges and Opportunities”. We are excited that the NACWG and our workshop will also be a part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the International Crane Foundation, our hosting organization, in 2023. We look forward to hearing from you about all aspects of crane conservation and research. Registration, Call for Abstracts, and Student Travel Awards are now OPEN.

Full standard registration is $300; student and spouse discounted registration is $150. This is the same great price – and excellent value – for our 2017 and 2020 workshops! Registration entitles you to our welcoming evening icebreaker event, two days of scientific sessions with lunch and snacks included, access to our silent auction, and a ticket and transportation to the field trip day (lunch included) and banquet. The primary venue for the sessions will be the Baraboo Arts Banquet and Convention Center in downtown Baraboo. Baraboo is located in southcentral Wisconsin, surrounded by the Baraboo Range National Natural Landmark and a long stretch of the Wisconsin River, intertwined with abundant agricultural lands that attract thousands of resident and migrating sandhill cranes. The area offers a unique laboratory to study cranes and agriculture, which ICF has done for over 30 years. This area is also adjacent to a long-standing effort to reintroduce whooping cranes to eastern North America through creation of the Eastern Migratory Population. Our field trip will include a morning at the Aldo Leopold Foundation, and the afternoon at ICF, together with a mix of crane viewing.

For lodging information for several nearby hotels, motels, and B&Bs, click HERE. Make your discounted reservations early! Baraboo is less than 1 hour from the state capital of Madison, and is easily reached by car, plane, or train. We will be encouraging participants to car pool or coordinate travel to Baraboo where possible; possibilities of van pooling are being explored to limit the need for participants to rent cars. There are numerous lodging options in and around Baraboo to satisfy workshop participants.

Call for Abstracts: The Abstract Submission Portal for proposed presentations will remain open until 1 August 2023. Please provide a concise 250-word or less statement of the topic or issue to be discussed and a summary of the major findings and conclusions. Plan to have your work considered for a full oral presentation, a short lighting talk, or both. We hope to notify all speakers of their acceptance and preferred format in August.

Student Travel Awards: The North American Crane Working Group is happy to be offering student travel awards; up to four $500 awards are available. These awards aim to support and encourage the participation of students conducting crane research, whether at the graduate or undergraduate level.

Please contact NACW16 Conference Coordinator Barry Hartup with questions or difficulties with submissions (hartup@savingcranes.org; 608-566-4477). Let’s see if we can “out-do” the 11th workshop from 2008 – the last time the NACWG met here. Please spread the word – and we look forward to seeing you in Baraboo soon!