This page lists titles, dates, and venues for taxonomic workshops I have prepared and presented; each has focused on freshwater Annelida, with emphasis on the aquatic Oligochaeta of North America. Numerous colleagues over the last 30 years have provided encouragement, advice, and unselfishly shared their taxonomic and systematic expertise with me - in particular, Ralph O. Brinkhurst, R. Deedee Kathman, Kathryn A. Coates, Steven V. Fend, Donald J. Klemm, William Moser, Stuart R. Gelder, Tarmo Timm, Warren U. Brigham (deceased), Jack D. Unzicker, Alison R. Brigham, Milt W. Sanderson, and Donald W. Webb. Without their support and enthusiasm for excellence in taxonomy, I would not have been able to prepare and present the following workshops. The past and present Executive Committee members of the North American Benthological Society (NABS) have been extremely supportive of taxonomic training, especially through their underwriting of taxonomic workshops and taxonomy fairs at annual meetings. In 2001, the NABS Technical Issues Committee established the Taxonomic Certification Subcommittee to develop a certification program for aquatic macroinvertebrate taxonomists throughout North America. This subcommittee met in Annapolis, MD, in mid-January 2003 to establish the mechanics and testing procedures for this certification program. This subcommittee was then elevated to standing committee status (as the NABS Taxonomic Certification Committee to develop the mechanics and procedures for the NABS Taxonomic Certification Program - TCP), at the 51st annual Society meeting in Athens, GA, in May 2003. Dr. Trefor B. Reynoldson (Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada) was chosen to serve as the TCP coordinator. Please visit the NABS TCP website for additional information, including testing procedures, list of recognized experts, and information regarding submission of identified and verified specimens for use during tests administered through this program.
Taxonomic Workshops Prepared and Conducted By M. J. Wetzel (and in collaboration with others, where noted)
1. "The Distribution, Ecology, Systematics, and Taxonomy of Aquatic Annelida in the Midwest." Presented to scientific staff of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Fisheries Contaminant Research Center, Columbia, Missouri; December 1990.
2. "Aquatic Annelida (Aclitellata and Clitellata) in the Southeast, with emphasis on distribution, ecology, systematics, and taxonomy." Presented to scientific staff at Duke Power Company, Huntersville, NC; October 1991.
3. "As the Worm Turns, and In Search of Opportunity: Aquatic Annelida (Aclitellata and Clitellata) in the West." Presented to biology staff and students at Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences, Flagstaff; November 1991.
4. "The Distribution, Ecology, Systematics, and Taxonomy of Aquatic Annelida in the Southeastern United States." Presented to scientific staff and students of various universities, state agencies, and private consulting firms, hosted by Normandeau Associates, Inc. and Clemson University, in Clemson, SC, 11-13 November 1992.
5. "Aquatic Oligochaeta occurring in the northeastern United States." Presented to biology staff and students at Castleton State College, Castleton, VT; October 1993.
6. "The Distribution, Ecology, Systematics, and Taxonomy of Annelida in North America." Presented to scientific staff at the National Water Quality Assessment Program, U.S. Geological Survey, Arvada, CO; {Part I - November 1995}.
7. "The aquatic Annelida of North America: Introduction, general distribution, ecology, taxonomy, and systematics, with emphasis on collection, processing, slide mounting, and identification of specimens." Presented to scientific staff of the Department of Zoology, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden, April 1996.
8. "The Distribution, Ecology, Systematics, and Taxonomy of Annelida in North America." Presented to scientific staff at the National Water Quality Assessment Program, U.S. Geological Survey, Arvada, CO; {Part II - March 1997}.
9. "The aquatic Annelida of North America: Introduction, general distribution, ecology, taxonomy, and systematics, with emphasis on collection, processing, slide mounting, and identification of specimens occurring in the southeastern United States." Presented to scientific staff of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Tampa; 2-3 November 1998.
10. "Introduction to the collection, processing, identification of freshwater Oligochaeta." Presented to scientific staff of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Department Conservation, and University of Missouri faculty, staff, and graduate students, at the Enns Museum of Entomology, University of Missouri, Columbia; 6-7 March 2000.
11. "Taxonomy, Systematics, and Ecology of Aquatic Oligochaeta." An all-day workshop, underwritten by the Technical Issues Committee of the North American Benthological Society (NABS) and the US Environmental Protection Agency; organized and co-presented by Mark J. Wetzel, R. Deedee Kathman (Aquatic Resources Center, College Grove, TN), Steven V. Fend (US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA), and Kathryn A. Coates (Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc.), Sunday 28 May 2000, at the 48th Annual Meeting of NABS at Keystone Resort, Colorado. This workshop was underwritten by a non-construction grant from the U.S. EPA, through the North American Benthological Society (NABS) Technical Issues Committee (TIC). Our appreciation is extended to Susan Jackson (U.S. EPA), Susan Davies (Chair, NABS TIC), and Kim Haag (Treasurer, NABS) for their assistance in procurement of funding for this 2000 workshop. These funds also supported the preparation and publication of a workshop workbook (Wetzel et al. 2000). This 2000 workbook is now out of print; it has been superseded by an updated and expanded version, compiled for use during two recent workshops presented in Florida [February and May 2006 - see #14 and #15, below, for more specific information on these workshops, and for ordering a copy of the new workbook].
12. Two-day intensive workshop on taxonomy of aquatic Oligochaeta was presented 16-17 March 2005 to bioassessment personnel at Duke Energy facilities, Huntersville, NC.
13. An introductory course on identification of aquatic Oligochaeta was presented to participants of the 31st meeting of the Carolinas Area Benthologists Workshop, Duke Energy facilities, Huntersville, NC. 18 March 2005.
14. Three-day intensive workshop on taxonomy, systematics, and ecology of the aquatic Oligochaeta and Branchiobdellidae of North America, with emphasis on the fauna occurring in Florida [co-presented with S.V. Fend and K.A. Coates, S.R. Gelder, and R.D. Kathman]; 21-23 February 2006, at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Bureau of Laboratories facility in Tallahassee. This workshop was presented to professional bioassessment personnel employed by /under contract to the FDEP.
15. Three-day intensive workshop on taxonomy, systematics, and ecology of the aquatic Oligochaeta of North America, with emphasis on the fauna occurring in Florida; 9-11 May 2006, at the University of Florida Department of Entomology and Nematology, Gainesville, FL. This workshop was presented to participants of the annual spring workshop associated with / underwritten by the Florida Association of Benthologists.
>> A complete citation, and information on obtaining a copy of the 2006 workbook used for the two 2006 workshops in Florida (listed immediately above), is available via the link "Publications" from the navigation bar at the bottom of this page. >>
16. 'Introduction to the taxonomy, systematics, and ecology of freshwater oligochaetes (Annelida, Clitellata) of North America.' An intensive half-day workshop presented to participants in the annual meeting of the Association of Mid-Atlantic Aquatic Biologists (AMAAB), convened at Cacapon State Park, near Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, Thursday, 3 April 2008.
Upcoming Workshops.
Several workshops currently are being planned (e.g., in Idaho, New York, Missouri), but dates (likely in 2009 and 2010) have not yet been determined.
Taxonomy Fairs
I have also participated in the taxonomy fairs held during the annual meetings of the North American Benthological Society: 1999 (Duluth, MN), 2000 (Keystone Resort, CO), 2001 (LaCrosse, WI), 2002 (Pittsburgh, PA), 2003 (Athens, GA), 2004 (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 2005 (New Orleans, LA), 2006 (Anchorage, AK), 2007 (Columbia, SC), and 2008 (Salt Lake City, UT). I extend my appreciation to Dave Penrose, Susan Norton, and other members of the NABS Technical Issues and Taxonomic Certification committees for their support of training workshops that underwrite excellence in taxonomy, and to Chris Outlaw and Bobby Louque for organizing this year's NABS 2008 taxonomy fair. All of us thank Bobby Martin (Martin Microscope Company) for his perennial support of the taxonomy workshops and taxonomy fairs convened during our annual society meetings, and especially for providing numerous microscopes for our use and unselfishly sharing his professional microscopical expertise with us.
Questions, comments, suggestions, or ideas? Please E-Mail them to me at: mjwetzel{AT}uiuc.edu
The site navigation bar at the bottom of this page directs you to resume-related information, some of my research projects, the INHS Center for Annelida Resources, and the INHS Annelida Collection.
page update: 9 June 2008