Dean (Doc) Metter was a faculty member in the Department of Zoology at the University of Missouri—Columbia and then the Division of Biological Sciences at that institution for approximately 30 years. A believer in putting knowledge to the test in the field, Doc provided frequent opportunities for students to engage in fieldwork. In honoring Doc’s memory, the SSAR annually awards $300 to $1,000 to undergraduate and graduate students conducting field-based research in herpetology. Applications are due December 15. Students can also apply for the Roger Conant Grants in Herpetology, but will only receive one award (typically announced in March). To learn more about the Dean Metter Memorial Award, visit: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/dean-metter-memorial-award/.
Call for applications: Roger Conant Grants in Herpetology (due Dec. 15)
The SSAR is now accepting applications for this year’s Roger Conant Grants in Herpetology! We will be awarding numerous grants (up to $500 each) in several categories. This program is intended to provide financial support for deserving individuals (with a primary emphasis on student researchers) or organizations involved in herpetological research, education, or conservation. Students can also apply for the Dean Metter Memorial Award, but successful applicants will only receive one award. Applications are due December 15, 2025, with awards typically announced in March.
For more information about eligibility and applications guidelines, please visit the grant webpage.
Proposals can be submitted via Dropbox:
https://www.dropbox.com/request/eA6RpstXPso7gc2PxQ4a
Job Opening: tenure-track Assistant Professor position for an Arid Land Herpetologist
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Department of Biological Sciences invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position with expertise in arid land amphibian and reptile ecology. The anticipated appointment date is Fall 2026 or earlier. Applicants must have a Ph.D. and postdoctoral research experience. To learn more or submit an application: https://utep.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp;jsessionid=515260B1CBAE854AD6BE3281CE5C3
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Cover over Herpetological Review 48(1) featuring Coleonyx reticulatus (Reticulate Banded Gecko) photographed by Noah Fields.
Herpetological Review 55(4) is now available!
The cover of Herp Review Volume 55 Issue 4 features the Mehuin Green Frog, Insuetophrynus acarpicus, an IUCN endangered species known only from a few localities near Valdivia, Chile. More than half of Chile’s ca. 60 species of anurans are endemic and more than half are given an IUCN or national level of Threatened. A primary cause of these amphibian declines is alteration of Chile’s unique temperate forests for agriculture or timber. This individual was found under a joint expedition led by Dr. José J. Nuñez of the Universidad Austral de Chile and Dr. Dante Fenolio of the San Antonio Zoo, accompanied by William W. Lamar and photographer Timothy Paine during a research and conservation collaboration. Several localities were visited, and a number of unique frog species were found. The locality of this individual was private land overlooking the southern Pacific Ocean held by a couple intent on protecting the local frog species. Our cover image was captured by Timothy Paine, a retired captain with the San Francisco Police Department who serves on the Board of Directors for Field Projects International.
Full contents are available online to SSAR members at https://ssarherps.org/herpetological-review-pdfs/. Select sections are Open Access and 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 are available. Please visit the membership page for more information: https://ssarherps.org/about-ssar/membership/.
Follow the SSAR on Bluesky: @ssarherps.bsky.social
The SSAR is now on the social media platform, Bluesky! Follow us to get the latest updates
in herpetology, society news, and research: @ssarherps.bsky.social
Now available at the SSAR Bookstore: Contributions to Herpetology, Vol. 35 — The Dutch Indies Commission and the Herpetological Legacy of Heinrich Boie (1794–1827). 376 pp., 60 color plates, 18 figures. Essential for systematists & herp historians. Order: store10270226.company.site/%E2%80%8BVol…
— ssarherps.bsky.social (@ssarherps.bsky.social) August 15, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Announcing the recipients of SSAR travel awards at JMIH 2025
The SSAR offers travel awards for students and postdocs to attend and present their research at the annual Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH). Congratulations to this year’s recipients!
Metallinou Postdoctoral Travel Award:
Dr. Kevin Mulder, Ghent University
Dr. Steven Hromada, Fresno Chaffee Zoo
To learn more about this award, visit: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/metallinou-postdoctoral-travel-award/.
Student Travel Award:
Rizki Kurnia Tohir, IPB University
Tayci Sullivan, Southern Illinois University
Sydney Wayne, Auburn University
Cole J. Ivie, California Polytechnic State University
Sudipta Kalita, University of Dayton
Felipe R. Floreste, University of São Paulo
Daisy Wong, California Polytechnic State University
Brendan Enochs, University of Dayton
Nicole Stevens, Texas A&M University
Sydney Hermann, Marshall University
To learn more about this award, visit: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/student-travel-award/.
2025 recipients of the George and Mary Rabb Undergraduate Poster Award
George B. and Mary S. Rabb Undergraduate Poster Award
The SSAR’s George B. Rabb Undergraduate Poster Award is sponsored by the George and Mary Rabb Foundation. It honors Mary Rabb who achieved much in the realm of amphibian research and conservation of all species, and George Rabb, who was a former Director of the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago and a highly respected leader of many global wildlife conservation initiatives. George was excellent at identifying students with strong potential in conservation and conservation-related research and informally mentoring them to maximize their impact on the field. 2025 marked the 7th year of this competition. Due to the generous donation from the George and Mary Rabb Foundation, two awards were given and a travel award was given to a student randomly selected from among the competitors. The poster winners received a check for US $250 and a book. We thank Chuck Crumly for book donations this year. The travel award is $500. To learn more about this award, visit: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/georgerabbaward/.
This year’s judges were John Abramyan (University of Michigan-Dearborn) and Tom Radomski (Washington University in St. Louis).
The 2025 winners of the Rabb Undergraduate Poster Award are:
Mason Polencheck (University of Minnesota), “Land-Use Effects on the Skin Microbiome of the Common Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus)”
Mikayla-Anne Woodring (Moravian University), “Morphological Changes in Xenopus laevis Tadpoles’ Guts When Exposed to Polyethylene Microplastics in Water”
The travel award winner is Leah Stimpson.
Congratulations!
Victor Hutchison Graduate Student Poster Awards: Congratulations to the 2025 recipients!
Victor Hutchison Graduate Student Poster Award
The SSAR graduate student poster awards honor Victor Hutchison for his extensive contributions to herpetology and the development of future herpetologists. We held the 15th annual SSAR Victor Hutchison Student Poster competition in St. Paul on 11 July 2025. Awardees received a check for US $250 and book. We thank Chuck Crumly for book donations this year. For more information about this award, visit: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/victor-hutchison-award/.
This year’s judges were Ed Basham (University of Texas at Austin), Christopher Howey (University of Scranton), Tiffany Kosch (University of Melbourne), Sara McClelland (Moravian University), Kevin Mulder (Ghent University), Jeanine Refsnider (University of Toledo), and Robin Suyesh (University of Delhi).
The 2025 recipients of the Hutchison Graduate Poster Award are:
Physiology, Morphology, Evolution, Genetics, & Systematics:
Nikole Schneider (University of South Dakota), “Feats of supercontractile strength: Functional convergence of supercontracting muscle properties among hyoid musculature in chameleons”
Conservation & Management:
Taylor Thomisee (Arkansas State University), “Amphibians on the MAP: Differences in Community Composition within Wetland Reserve Easements”
Ecology, Natural History, Distribution, & Behavior:
Oscar Ramon Fokou (University of Yaoundé), “Amphibian Diversity in the Dja Faunal Reserve, Southern Cameroon: Insights from a Comprehensive Survey of Lowland Rainforest Habitats”
Congratulations!
Announcing the Henry Seibert award recipients from JMIH 2025
The 33rd annual Seibert Awards were presented at the 2025 Joint Meeting of Ichthyology and Herpetology (JMIH) in St. Paul, Minnesota. These awards are named in honor of Henri C. Seibert, an early and endless supporter of the SSAR (having served as an officer for over 20 years).
In recognition of outstanding student presentations at the annual meeting, two awards were given in each of three categories: Conservation, Evolution & Systematics, Ecology, and Morphology & Physiology. Congratulations to the award recipients:
Conservation/Evolution/Systematics:
Winner: Lizzy Patton, Villanova University, “Hidden in Plain Sight: Novel Mitochondrial Rearrangement and Deep Divergences in Widespread Southern African Agama”.
Honorable Mention: Hannah Bradley, University of New Mexico, “Snake Fungal Disease: How long has it been here?”
Ecology:
Winner: Jessica Yates, University of Central Florida, “Tropic Ties or Thermal Drift: Do Spectacled Caimans (Alligatoridae: Caiman) Keep Their Cool in Florida?”
Honorable Mention: Griffin Nicholson, Texas A&M University, “Calls of Introduced Frogs Attract a Threatened Native Species: Phonotactic Responses Between American Bullfrogs and Chiricahua Leopard Frogs”.
Morphology/Physiology:
Winner: Júlia Laterza Barbosa, Yale University, “Arboreality and the evolution of hydrothermal physiology in neotropical frogs”.
Honorable Mention: Natasha Stepanova, University of Michigan, “Backtalk: Clade-specific Determinants of the Number of Precloacal Vertebrae in Squamates”.
For more information on the Henri Seibert award, visit: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/henri-seibert-award/.
SSAR leadership opportunity: Publications Secretary (beginning Jan. 2027)
The SSAR is looking for a volunteer to fill the Publications Secretary position beginning January 2027. This is one of six officer positions within the society and is a great opportunity for bibliophiles interested in herpetology, or those interested in learning more about leadership roles and the history of the SSAR. The publications office is responsible for storing the society’s inventory of books and journals, filling orders placed on the SSAR Bookstore webpage, fielding questions about missing journals/book orders, and shipping of orders both domestically and internationally.
If you are interested in learning more, please contact the current Publications secretary, Cari Hickerson (chickerson@jcu.edu), for details regarding the duties associated with this position. To learn more, visit https://ssarherps.org/about-ssar/ssar-organization/.
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