The University of Tennessee at Martin student chapter of The Wildlife Society hosted the annual Southeastern Wildlife Student Conclave on March 27-29, which brought 20 university chapters and 356 students from across the Southeast, from Louisiana to Virginia.
It marked the first time for the Conclave to be held on the UT Martin campus. UT Martin last hosted the Conclave in 2008 at Paris Landing State Park.
Dr. Eric Pelren, professor of wildlife science, is the faculty adviser of the UTM chapter of The Wildlife Society.
“I’m very proud of these students; they worked really, really hard and did a great job,” he said. “They really stepped up to a yearlong, monumental task of preparing and putting the Conclave on.”
The Conclave is made up of several events, including a team competition, in which 20 tables are set up across campus with themed wildlife questions, and student teams run from table to table every five minutes and answer as many questions as they can.
“The foundational event that it is all built around is the quiz bowl,” Pelren said. “Quiz bowl is a double-elimination tournament. Each school has a four-person team, and they compete in 10-minute matches against another team to see who could answer the most wildlife trivia questions.”
There were 15 concurrent field competitions March 28 divided into academic, physical and creative competitions ranging from radio telemetry to plant identification, from orienteering to canoeing.
There were 22 concurrent field trips and workshops March 29 across northwest Tennessee, and each evening, there were social events for fellowship and networking.
“Several of the field trips and workshops were at Reelfoot Lake,” Pelren said of the state park in northwest Tennessee. “There were well over 100 wildlife professionals helping in various capacities with this from numerous state and federal agencies.”
Pelren said the Conclave is approaching its 50th anniversary.
“This is, for a lot of wildlife students, the very favorite thing that they do,” he said. “I’ve known a lot of the other advisers for decades, so it’s a very strong, well-established culture.”
The site of each Southeastern Wildlife Student Conclave rotates each year. Last year, it was held at Murray State University, and next year, it will be hosted by the University of Florida.
PHOTO: Office holders in the UT Martin student chapter of The Wildlife Society that hosted the 2025 Southeastern Wildlife Student Conclave on March 27-29 include (front row, l-r) Habitat Committee Chair Hayden Demastus, Vice President Noah Widick, Secretary Kate Pilcher, President Amber Ingleburger, Fisheries Executive Adalia Hewell, Treasurer Clara Lindsey, Social Media Chair Noah Hickman, Activities Committee Chair Jason Stoll, (back row, l-r) Bracketmaster Logan Stewart, Recruitment and Retention Committee Chair Joseph Staten, Wildlife Executive Rylee Abbott, Policy Committee Chair Brian Caldwell, Audit Committee Chair Arlanna Oxford and Casting Competition Coordinator Brady Coleman. Not pictured is Information and Education Committee Chair Drake Hodge.
