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Now seeking applications for the 2018 Meritorious Teaching Award in Herpetology

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The Herpetology Education Committee (HEC) seeks nominations for the Meritorious Teaching Award in Herpetology to be presented at the 2018 Joint Meetings of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists in Rochester New York. This award recognizes superior teaching and mentoring of students in the area of herpetology, and provides student members of ASIH, HL, and SSAR the opportunity to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to herpetological education. The award recipient will receive US $500, an official letter, and a plaque from the HEC.

For full details, see the call for proposals here.

Behind the Scenes Pt. 3: Salamander bites and PCR gods

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In this third installment of the human stories behind herpetological research, we hear the story behind a recent publication in SSAR’s Herpetological Review. The citation for that article is as follows:

Lamb, J.Y., Kreiser, B.R., Waddle, J.H., and Qualls, C.Q. 2017. Characterization of microsatellite loci for the Gulf Coast waterdog (Necturus beyeri) using paired-end Illumina shotgun sequencing and cross-amplification in other Necturus. Herpetological Review 48(4): 758 – 763.

SSAR members can access the article here. Below is a first-hand account from the lead author, Dr. Jennifer Lamb.

Necturus beyeri juvenile from the Pascagoula River. © Jennifer Lamb

“Holy [expletive]! It bit me!” Is not what you want to hear from a lab-mate at a field site in southeast Louisiana. Fortunately, Chris Pellecchia, a PhD student at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), was dealing with a Gulf Coast Waterdog (Necturus beyeri) and not a herp with a nastier bite. Several of the adult waterdogs from that particular site were feisty, snapping and “death-rolling” in their plastic bags (like what a crocodile does with prey, but a smaller, more mucous-covered version). No blood was shed but a few bags did spring leaks.

Chris and I were sampling waterdogs for my post-doctoral research, which focused on the population genetics of N. beyeri. This work was a collaboration between myself, Dr. Hardin Waddle (USGS), and Drs. Brian Kreiser and Carl Qualls (USM). My overarching goal was to describe patterns in genetic diversity and gene flow at several spatial scales. During the initial planning stages of the post-doc, I realized that there were no published microsatellites for any species of Necturus and that developing those primers would be one of my first hurdles.

N. m. louisianensis larva form south-central Louisiana. © Brad Glorioso

By early 2016 we had some tissue samples in hand for N. beyeri, but we wanted to test primers across species of Necturus so that our efforts could facilitate comparative studies as well as genetic assessments for species of conservation concern. I contacted individuals working with the Common Mudpuppy (N. m. maculosus), the Neuse River Waterdog (N. lewisi), the Dwarf Waterdog (N. punctatus), and the Black Warrior Waterdog (N. alabamensis), and several graciously donated tissue samples towards our objective. The last taxa brought into the fold was the Red River Waterdog (N. m. louisianensis), which we trapped and dip-netted from south central Louisiana in early 2017. Prior to that outing, my own fieldwork had focused on sampling N. beyeri in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi, where small juveniles are a mottled yellow-brown. I was taken aback by the beautiful striping on juvenile N. m. louisianensis.

Although technological advances have made it easier to identify potential microsatellite primers, the process of optimizing those primers and testing loci for variability is still time consuming, particularly when multiple taxa are involved. This is sometimes an underappreciated aspect of genetics projects. After approximately 10 months of tweaking amplification protocols in the lab (and making several offerings to the PCR deities – yes, many genetics labs have at least one shrine), I was rewarded with a set of 10, polymorphic microsatellites that amplified across several species of Necturus, including our target taxon, N. beyeri. For more details on this process and our results, check out our recently published article in Herpetological Review.

Dr. Jennifer Lamb measuring N. beyeri from the Pascagoula River. © Taylor Price

We have gone on to use these loci to examine the population structure and conservation genetics of N. beyeri across its range, and to look at gene flow and the movement biology of N. beyeri at a fine-scale within an intensively sampled creek in southeast Louisiana (manuscripts in prep.). Days in the field sampling for this salamander have spanned the gamut, as they typically do with fieldwork. Sometimes our dip-netting only yielded a few N. beyeri, and we shook our fists at the creek, our weak backs, and the mosquitoes. But other days were glorious, with scores of spotted N. beyeri wriggling out from the litter in our nets. It is awesome to imagine how many salamanders are pushing through packs of litter in some of these creeks in the Gulf Coastal Plain, and it is exciting to consider how population genetics studies will complement what we understand about the biology of N. beyeri. These endeavors are the culmination of substantial collaborations among multiple individuals in and out of the field, and it has been my privilege to work in an environment with such a high spirit of camaraderie.

Jennifer Y. Lamb
Southeastern Louisiana University
Department of Biological Sciences, SLU #10736
Hammond, Louisiana 70402, USA
jennifer.lamb@selu.edu

Herpetological Review 48(4) available online!

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HR December 2017, Volume 48, Number 4. Our cover features a field photo of an Osteolaemus osborni (Congo Dwarf Crocodile), photographed in Odzala-Kokoua National Park (Republic of Congo), by Matej Dolinay.

This issue is scheduled to be mailed 29 December, although full contents are now available online to SSAR members at https://ssarherps.org/herpetological-review-pdfs/. All Natural History Notes, Geographic Distribution Notes, and Book Reviews are Open Access and are now available for download at the same link. If you are not a member of SSAR, please consider joining the leading international herpetological society. Student and online-only rates available. Follow the “Join SSAR” link on the home page. Congratulations to Matej for his outstanding cover photo!

Seeking SSAR social media interns

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SSAR is seeking volunteer social media interns to help manage our Facebook and Twitter accounts. Are you a pro at finding the most important herpetological news online? Do you love to retweet the latest, greatest publications in the field? Are you looking for a way to give back to SSAR? Send us an email at ssarherps@gmail.com for more information.

Student Grant Opportunities due Dec 2017 and Jan 2018

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The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles’ Roger Conant Grants in Herpetology are due December 15, 2017. For these grants you must be a member of SSAR, and these include funds for graduate and undergraduate research. The Herpetologists’ League’s E.E. Williams Grant in Herpetology is due 15 December 2017 and the Jones-Lovich Grant in Southwestern Herpetology is due 5 January 2018. For the latter two grants, you must be a graduate student and a member of the Herpetologists’ League.

Announcement: The Meritorious Teaching Award in Herpetology

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The Meritorious Teaching Award in Herpetology (Announcement)

Presented by the Herpetology Education Committee 

Sponsored by: American Society of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists (ASIH), The Herpetologists’ League (HL), and the Society for the Study of Amphibians & Reptiles (SSAR)

The Herpetology Education Committee (HEC) seeks nominations for the Meritorious Teaching Award in Herpetology to be presented at the 2018 Joint Meetings of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists in Rochester New York. Nominees must be current members of at least one of the sponsoring societies. Current Officers and Committee Chairs of ASIH, HL or SSAR, and members of the HEC are not eligible for nomination.

This award recognizes superior teaching and mentoring of students in the area of herpetology, and provides student members of ASIH, HL, and SSAR the opportunity to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to herpetological education. The award recipient will receive US $500, an official letter, and a plaque from the HEC.

Nominees should have a reputation among their peers and students for excellence in herpetological education, including, but not limited to:

1. Demonstrated highly effective and innovative teaching in the classroom and/or other education settings (e.g., zoological parks, aquaria, museums, field stations, environmental centers).

2. Superior mentoring of students in herpetology, as evidenced by student testimonials and placement of students in professional positions related to the field of herpetology.

The nomination packet (submitted as a single electronic PDF) should include the following:

1. A nominating letter highlighting the nominee’s experience and accomplishments (limit 3 pages).

2. Evidence in support of the nomination

a. Letters of recommendation from two current or former students addressing the teaching and mentoring skills of the nominee.

b. Letters of recommendation from two professional peers who are qualified to review the merits of the nominee with respect to teaching and mentoring skills.

Nominations will be accepted from current or former students of the nominee and must be received by the HEC Chair by 31 April for consideration. Incomplete nominations will not be reviewed.

Nominations will remain active for three years. After that, the nominee must wait six years before being eligible again.

Send electronic nomination files, including all letters, as a single PDF to:

Lynn Haugen, HEC Chair
Associate Professor
Department of Natural Sciences
Western New Mexico University
PO Box 680
Silver City, NM 88062
LHaugen@wnmu.edu

Herpetological Review 48(3) released online!

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HR September 2017, Volume 48, Number 3. Our cover features a field photo of an adult male Geoemyda spengleri (Black-breasted Leaf Turtle), photographed on Hainan Island, China, by Jeffrey E. Dawson. This issue is scheduled to be mailed 29 September. Congratulations to Jeffrey for his outstanding cover photo!

Members can now download the full edition here, and the full table of contents will be uploaded soon. All Natural History Notes, Geographic Distribution Notes, and Book Reviews are Open Access and are now available for download at the same link–for both members and non-members. If you are not a member of SSAR, please consider joining the leading international herpetological society. Student and online-only rates available. Follow the “About SSAR” and “Membership Information” links at ssarherps.org.

SSAR Victor Hutchison Student Poster Award Winners for 2017 Announced

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The SSAR student poster awards honor Victor Hutchison for his extensive contributions to herpetology and the development of future herpetologists.  The seventh annual SSAR Victor Hutchison Student Poster Awards were presented at the 60th Annual Meeting of the SSAR and the Joint Meeting of Ichthyology and Herpetology in Austin, Texas, 12-16 July 2016.  This year there were 32 eligible poster submissions.  In recognition of outstanding student poster presentations at the annual meeting, a single award was given in each of the following categories: Evolution, Genetics, & Systematics (5 presentations), Ecology, Natural History, Distribution, & Behavior (15 presentations), Physiology & Morphology (7 presentations), and Conservation & Management (6 presentations).  All awardees received a check for US $200 and a book from CRC Press.

This year’s judges were Tiffany Doan (Chair, New College of Florida), Marina Gerson (California State University, Stanislaus), Peter Uetz (Virginia Commonwealth University), Hardin Waddle (United States Geological Service), Melissa Youngquist (University of Minnesota), Anthony Barley (University of Hawaii at Manoa), Christopher Thigpen (Arkansas State University), Gerardo Carfagno (Manhattan College), and Ralph Saporito (John Carroll University).

The Winners – Ecology, Natural History, Distribution, & Behavior: Harrison Goldspiel (SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry), “Spatial and Historical Drivers of Pool-Breeding Amphibian Abundances in a Central New York Forest.”  Evolution, Genetics, & Systematics: Daniel Hughes (University of Texas at El Paso), “From the Floor, to the Canopy: Comparative Phylogeography of Two Sympatric Chameleon Species in Central Africa’s Albertine Rift.” Physiology & Morphology: Drew Davis (University of South Dakota), “Morphological Variation Between Two Widely Distributed Populations of Plethodon albagula (Caudata: Plethodontidae).” Conservation & Management:Jillian Josimovich (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne), “First Assessment of Soft-release Translocation of Wild-caught Snakes.”

You can view the winning posters below:

Goldspiel Poster

Hughes et al. Poster

Davis Poster

Josimovich Poster

2018 David J. Morafka Memorial Research Award Announcement

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In honor and memory of Dr. David J. Morafka, distinguished herpetologist and authority on North American gopher tortoises, the Desert Tortoise Council, with the aid of several donors, has established a monetary award to help support research that contributes to the understanding, management and conservation of tortoises of the genus Gopherus in the southwestern United States and Mexico:  G. agassizii, G. morafkai, G. evgoodei, G. berlandieri, and G. flavomarginatus.

Applications for this $2000 award are due by December 1, 2017. For more details, see the full release here: 2018 Morafka Award Announcement

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