Training Materials
Wildlife Health Basic Training Module
In this module designed for DEC field staff, learn about wildlife disease, how to work safely with wildlife, and more.
*We encourage and permit the free use of these wildlife health materials for educational purposes with acknowledgment of the CWHL as the source. Please let us know when and where you used them. Email us at cwhl@cornell.edu.
Instructional Video: SOP4CWD Workshop
The SOP4CWD is a North American effort to improve CWD surveillance efficiency and effectiveness for wildlife agencies by providing a (free) data warehouse that includes user-friendly models and regional sampling visualizations. The Warehouse serves as a data management system for agencies that need reliable solutions to their surveillance data management.
Instructional Video: Your Choice of Ammunition Video
An informational video for NYS hunter education courses on the choice of ammunition.
Wildlife Health Topic: Risk Communication Webinar, March 2022
Communicating about risks to health, safety, and the environment is challenging. In this webinar hosted by the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab, Dr. Dominic Balog-Way from the Department of Communication at Cornell University explains why and how risk communication effectiveness could be significantly improved if practitioners adopt a more strategic and evidence-based approach.
Instructional Video: SOP4CWD Hazard Tutorial
Shiny app tutorial on the SOP4CWD Hazard tool
Instructional Video: SOP4CWD Positives Tutorial
Tutorial for Shiny App on SOP4CWD Positives
Instructional Video: SOP4CWD Optimization Tutorial
Shiny app tutorial for SOP4CWD Optimization tool
Instructional Video: SOP4CWD Habitat Risk Tutorial
Shiny app tutorial for SOP4CWD Habitat Risk
Wildlife Health Topic: Wildlife Health Program Webinar: Wildlife Forensics
This webinar is the sixth and final in our 2020 Virtual Wildlife Health Workshop series for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation staff and other wildlife professionals this year. Learn about wildlife forensics from some of the people directly involved in the investigations. We cover what it takes to process a case and a scene, how specimen collection and documentation keep the evidence secure, what the Wildlife Health Unit sees from a pathology perspective, and how all that ties into a successful outcome.
Wildlife Health Topic: Wildlife Health Program Webinar: Research Highlights
This webinar is the fifth in our 2020 Virtual Wildlife Health Workshop series for New York State Department of Environmental Conservation staff and other wildlife professionals. It covers WHP research projects at the Wildlife Health Unit at Delmar and at the Wildlife Health Lab at Cornell.
Wildlife Health Topic: Wildlife Health Program Webinar: The New York State Wildlife Health Program
This webinar was the fourth in the Wildlife Health Program's 2020 Virtual Wildlife Health Workshop series for New York State Department of Environmental Conservation staff and other wildlife professionals. Topics included an overview of the program and its activities, the case submission process, how necropsies are performed, interesting recent wildlife mortality cases, and training resources and technical materials on the website.
Wildlife Health Topic: Wildlife Health Program Webinar: Emerging Risks to Wildlife
This webinar was part of our 2020 Virtual Wildlife Health Workshop series for New York State Department of Environmental Conservation staff and other wildlife professionals. It covers emerging disease threats to free-ranging wildlife and the importance of disease surveillance in New York State.
Wildlife Health Topic: Wildlife Health Program Webinar: Common Diseases in Wildlife
Join us for the second webinar in our Virtual Wildlife Health Workshop series as we update NYS wildlife professionals on common diseases of wildlife. From deer diseases and avian pox to rabies and West Nile Virus, the Wildlife Health Program covers it here.
Wildlife Health Topic: COVID-19 in Wildlife Webinar
Join us for our first Virtual Wildlife Health Workshop as we update NYS wildlife professionals on what we know about COVID-19 and wildlife. Learn where we are with testing and risks to species with Dr. Krysten Schuler, how to protect yourself and wildlife with appropriate PPE from wildlife biologist Kevin Hynes, and get the inside scoop on using and understanding mathematical models with Dr. Brenda Hanley.

Wildlife Health Topic: Chronic Wasting Disease: The Threats to Wildlife, Public Lands, Hunting, and Health, June 25, 2019
06/25/2019Dr. Krysten Schuler's complete written CWD Testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for the hearing on Chronic Wasting Disease: The Threats to Wildlife, Public Lands, Hunting, and Health
Wildlife Health Topic: A contemporary wildlife management issue: the use of lead ammunition for hunting big game
Former Chief Wildlife Biologist for the State of New York, Gordon R. Batcheller, discusses the the use of lead ammunition for hunting big game and the consequences for wildlife. The presentation was given at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in January, 2019 for the Conservation Medicine course (VTMED 6735).