Thank you all for participating in our online discussion forum and for sharing your research and ideas on the invasion and management of New Zealand Mud Snails (NZMS, Potamopyrgus antipodarum). The goal of this forum was to provide an opportunity for investigators to share existing and generate new knowledge about P. antipodarum, as well as to stimulate contacts and cooperation between scientists working with NZMS, and to better understand the invasion process and identify methods for managing existing populations where they pose risks to ecosystems and biodiversity.

Our Virtual forum was an online discussion allowing participants to post messages, presentations and comments on other postings dedicated to New Zealand Mud Snail topics. The purpose of this forum was to provide a platform for the investigators to share existing knowledge and generate new ideas about NZMS and to foster the interests of NZMS research. We hope that our forum stimulated contacts and future cooperation among scientists working with NZMS.

The scientific outline of the forum included online PowerPoint and poster presentationswas grouped into a four main categories (threads) reflecting different NZMS areas of interest: General, Ecology and ecosystem impacts, Polices and managment, Parasitology and genetics. Participants from different background and agencies (managers, university researchers, USGS, fisheries etc.) shared their experiences and exchange questions and ideas. 

We hope you will join us in the future, during our next events.

Since we receivied lots of interest during and after our forum we left our presenations available to view after the forum was officially closed. If you have any questions or comments send your message to : Danuta Bennett bennett@lifesci.ucsb.edu . We would like to hear your feedback, particularly how to improve our forum in the future.

To see our past forum discussion panels and featured presentations:

The forum was organized by RIVRLab (Riparian InVasion Research Laboratory); as a product of a collaborative effort with the Montana State University - NZMS in the Western USA  project,  the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Aquatic Nuisance Species program, Sea Grant California, UC Cooperative Extension, LA and Ventura Counties and will be coordinated by Danuta Bennett and Tom Dudley (University of California, Santa Barbara).

 Thank you all for great research exchange and hope that you participate in our future online froums.