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ICTWS – 61st Annual Meeting

Congratulations to our fantastic group of undergraduate and graduate students and lab members for their presentations at The 61st Annual Meeting of the  Illinois Chapter of The Wildlife Society. April 13-15, 2025. 

From left to right: Trisha Mendoza, Julia Newmann, Aadhya Ganesh, Joey He (first row); Nicholas Skowron, Amber Zilinger, Dr. Nohra Mateus-Pinilla, Jameson Mori, Tooba Latif, Evan London (second row).

Oral Presentations

Presenter: Evan London

Title: Increasing the accuracy of PRNP allele frequencies in white-tailed deer; applications to disease management.

Presenter: Jameson Mori

Title: Relation of testing numbers and chronic wasting disease (CWD) apparent prevalence.

Presenter: Amber Zilinger

Title: Evaluating PRNP Gene Diversity and Maternal Lineages of Collared White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Southern Illinois, USA.

Poster Presentations

List of poster presentations (Presenter+):

Going the Distance: Movement Barriers to Gene Flow Between White-Tailed Deer in Jackson and Pope County Illinois. Aadhya Ganesh+, Zilinger A, Mendoza T, Latif T, London E, Brown WM, Rivera NA, Mateus-Pinilla NE

An in-person survey of Illinois hunters: knowledge about CWD and implications for surveillance. Rivera NA, Amber M. Zilinger+, Villazan Perez-Girones S, Mori J, Latif T, London E, Stephens LJ, Miller C, Novakofski JE, Mateus-Pinilla NE

Assessing Soil Metal Composition in Illinois as Potential Factors in Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease. Julia Neumann+, Joey He+, Zilinger A, London E, Paton T, Novakofski JE, Mori J, Rivera NA, Mateus-Pinilla NE

Extended Decomposition and Its Effect on Diagnostic Testing Reliability in CWD Positive Tissue. Nicholas Skowron+, Mori J, London E, Rivera NA, Barr D, Novakofski JE, and Mateus-Pinilla NE

Genetic Variation of PRNP gene associated with vulnerability to CWD in Pope County, Illinois. Tooba Latif+, London E, Zilinger A, Brown WM, and Mateus-Pinilla NE

Are white-tailed deer outside of Pope County, Illinois related to those in Pope County based on maternal lineages. Trisha Mendoza+, Zillinger A, Ganesh A+, London E*, Latif T, Brown WM, Mateus-Pinilla NE

Characterization of bacterial communities in Illinois white-tailed deer tissues. Villazan Perez-Girones S, Latif T, Rivera NA, London E.+, Mori J, Mateus-Pinilla NE.

Bacterial microbiome diversity in blood and spleen of Peromyscus leucopus in Illinois. Villazan Perez-Girones S+, Daniel B. Raudabaugh, London E, Rivera NA, Mateus-Pinilla NE, Meagher S

Human population density gradient and individual age influence fecal bacterial communities of resident Illinois Canada Geese (Branta canadensis). Daniel B. Raudabaugh+, Villazan Perez-Girones S, Pietrunti NF, Rivera NA, Mateus-Pinilla NE, Fournier AMV

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Deer land cover utility (LCU) score datasets (TRS, township, and county)

Photo by L. Brian Stauffer.

This dataset contains white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) land cover utility score (deer LCU score) data for every TRS (township, range, and section), township-range, and county in Illinois, USA, based on annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) data released for all years between 2000 and 2023. LCU data is provided in CSV files for each spatial scale, with TRS data split into 2 CSV files due to size limits. Rasters (TIF) showing all deer habitat in Illinois are also provided to show the location, quality, and quantity of deer habitat. A metadata file is also included for additional information.

Cite this data set: Mori, Jameson (2025): Deer land cover utility (LCU) score datasets (TRS, township, and county). University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. https://doi.org/10.13012/B2IDB-0160590_V3

For more details about the data set, visit Illinois Data Bank, University of Illinois Champaign Library website.

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Why Are Deer So Successful in Illinois?

By Jameson Mori and Nelda A. Rivera

There are many important factors related to the success of deer in Illinois, and deer habitat is one of them. In this article, the authors explain how measuring deer habitat can help answer this important question: Why are deer so successful in Illinois?.

“One look at this map will tell you that Illinois has a lot of deer habitat, and good deer habitat, too.”

Read the whole story in the Illinois Outdoor Journal here.

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Legend or Reality: Breaking the code of CWD myths

By Nelda A. Rivera and Nohra Mateus-Pinilla

“You may have heard about chronic wasting disease, or CWD, and wondered what causes it, who is affected, and what is happening to the white-tailed deer in Illinois. Here, we will decode CWD and discuss common and confusing myths about prion diseases, particularly CWD.”

Figure 3. Concentration of CWD pathogen (PrPSc) in different tissues (Credit: Nelda A. Rivera, Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Laboratory – INHS – PRI).

Read the whole story in the Illinois Outdoor Journal here.

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Jameson Mori | 2024 PRI Early Career Investigator Award recipient

Amber Zilinger (left) and Jameson Mori (right) at the PRI award ceremony on May 14, 2024. 

Congratulations, Jameson, for receiving the 2024 Early Career Investigator Award from the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) for their outstanding contributions to environmental science and interdisciplinary research. Jameson Mori is a Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Laboratory member at the Illinois Natural History Survey.
Keep up the good work!!!

For the complete story, please visit the People of PRI news, here.

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Dr. Nohra Mateus-Pinilla | 2024 Distinguished Research Scientist Award recipient

Congratulations to Dr. Nohra Mateus-Pinilla, who received the Prairie Research Institute’s 2024 Distinguished Research Scientist Award for her exceptional contributions to research, the environment, and society.

Dr. Nohra Mateus-Pinilla (back row, third from left) alongside members of the INHS Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Laboratory.

Dr. Mateus-Pinilla is the director of the Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Laboratory at the Illinois Natural History Survey, a multi-disciplinary and multicultural laboratory whose research focuses on epidemiology, conservation, restoration, and preservation of Natural Resources while encouraging a responsible response to societal needs concerning disease impact on human, livestock, and wildlife health.

For the complete story, please visit the People of PRI news, here.

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How Often Do Whitetails Give Birth to Triplet and Quadruplet Fawns, or More?

By LINDSAY THOMAS Jr. | NDA’s Chief Communications Officer.

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – Are you wondering about the fertility and pregnancy of white-tailed deer? A new article by The National Deer Association answers these questions and more, as it explains exciting facts about doe whitetails and their offspring.

For the complete story, please visit the The National Deer Association, here.

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New study finds Extension offices have vital role in fight against growing number of tick bites

By EMILY STEELE | Media Communications Manager

“Once uncommon in the Midwest, deer ticks, American dog ticks, lone star ticks, and others are now found across Illinois, and tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis are on the rise. Cases of alpha-gal syndrome, a red meat allergy, have also increased. Those who spend a lot of time outdoors, either for work or recreation, have a higher risk of being bitten.”
Lyme disease tick at different stages. Photo credit: Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Laboratory – INHS

URBANA, Ill. — “A call, email, or visit to the local University of Illinois Extension office can help provide some peace of mind. New research from a multi-department team of university scientists explored the role Illinois Extension has in educating communities about ticks and preventing risky encounters.”

Read the whole story by Illinois Extension | UIUC here.

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What is the Difference Between Tuberculosis, Paratuberculosis and Mycoplasmosis in Deer?

By Nelda A. Rivera and Nohra Mateus-Pinilla

“Learning to differentiate diseases affecting white-tailed deer (WTD) in Illinois can be challenging, as many pathogens — including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and prions — could cause disease.”

Figure 1. Risk of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) transmission/spread at the cattle-human-wildlife interface5,6. Domestic and wild reservoir hosts (black), potential reservoir hosts (dark gray), and final hosts (light gray) can interact with each other and through the environment. Dash line show the potential indirect routes of infection between wildlife and humans.

Are you interested in knowing the difference between tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, and mycoplasmosis and how these diseases affect deer? Check the article in the Illinois Outdoor Journal here.

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2023 International Freezer Challenge

Congratulations, team, for winning first place in the academic sector for medium-sized laboratories in the 2023 freezer challenge. 

Amber Zilinger accepted the I2SL Sustainable Laboratories Award on behalf of the Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Laboratory at the 2023 Annual Conference and Technology Fair, October 22 - 25 | Anaheim, CA

This year, My Green Lab and the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories recognized your team efforts internationally. Well done!!!

To learn more about the Freezer Challenge at UIUC, please visit the Freezer Challenge-University of Illinois website here.