In a repeat of last year's performance, the UGA chapter of The Wildlife Society once again brought home the overall championship, as well as numerous team and individual awards, from the 32nd annual Southeastern Wildlife Conclave hosted by Tennessee Tech University this past weekend.

Representatives from sixteen southeastern universities competed in this year’s event.

Worthy of special mention, the quiz bowl team, which won first place in the event’s most important competition, celebrated victory for the 14th time since 1972 by defeating its' opponents in 5 matches by a combined score of 740 to 155 points (The UGA Chapter did not compete in the quiz bowl for the two years it hosted the Conclave).

Those that received awards for individual and group events include:

• Overall (1st place) – UGA Chapter
• Quiz Bowl (1st place) - Jay Scott, Ryan Whitelaw, Theron Menken, Jason Norman, and Daniel Sollenberger
• Dendrology (1st place) - Justin Tyson
• Men's Obstacle Course (1st place) - Daniel van Dijk, Will Bickerstaff, Andrew Grosse, and Robert Horan
• Wildlife calling (1st place) - Tom Luhring
• Black and White Photography (1st place) - Tom Luhring
• Radio telemetry (2nd place) - Jay Scott and Matt McKinney
• Orienteering (2nd place) - Tyler Clemons and Ryan Whitelaw
• Archery (2nd place) - Theron Menken
• Color photography (2nd place) - Britt Lancaster
• Line drawing (3rd place) - Lindsey Kirkman
• Black and White Photography (3rd place) - Jay Scott

“We are very proud of the students for their first class display of knowledge and skill, as well as the professionalism they exhibited at this exciting event,” Warnell School Dean Richard Porterfield exuberantly explained. “We know these students are top flight when they meet the requirements for acceptance into the University of Georgia, and these repeated performances continue to reinforce that initial belief.”

“This group of students has had a fantastic run over the past 2 years, with 2 conclave victories in 2005 and 2006 and Southeastern Section Student Chapter of the Year award in 2005,” according to Drs. Steven Castleberry and Mike Mengak, faculty advisors to the UGA Chapter of The Wildlife Society. “We are extremely proud of these students and how well they represent our program.”

“We are very proud of these students for achieving this significant accomplishment,” added Warnell Dean Richard Porterfield. “We are especially pleased to win the dendrology competition again, as this is one of the areas of study that our forestry program is most well known for.”

The UGA Chapter of The Wildlife Society is a student organization open to any UGA student interested in wildlife conservation and management. For more information on UGA’s TWS chapter, contact Dr. Steven Castleberry, 706/542-3929, scastle@forestry.uga.edu, or visit the UGA Wildlife Chapter website