Over the past week Drs Colvin and Schumann of the fisheries management and aquatic conservation lab at Mississippi State University (R) had the unique opportunity to interact with the USFWS species status assessment framework implantation team (SSA-FIT) at a workshop in Tuscon, Arizona. The objective of the meaning was to evaluate tools intended to increase SSA capacity at the agency level. The meeting was a tremendous learning experience, specifically learning how SSAs are done in all the USFWS regions and how listing decisions are made! The FM&AC team presented a brief overview of tools being developed to assist SSAs. For a background about the tools see the project website here.

Overall the trip was long and exhausting but in that good way where there was so much good information and input received!