Research, Conservation, Education
SSAR has just released a new update on a bilingual Herpetological Circular:
Lips, K.R., J.K. Reaser, B.E. Young, and R. Ibáñez. 2020. Amphibian monitoring in Latin America: a protocol manual (Mintoreo de anfibios en América Latina). Herpetological Circulars No. 30. Vers. 2.
This and other Herp Circulars are available as free PDF downloads on the SSAR website: https://ssarherps.org/publications/books-pamphlets/herp-circulars-pdfs/
SSAR is hosting virtual student poster competitions this Friday, July 24 at 12:30 pm Pacific/3:30 pm Eastern. If you’re interested in joining the session, please contact Joe Mendelson ahead of time for a Zoom link (jmendelson@zooatlanta.org).
For this installment of the SSAR leadership profiles, Student Participation Committee Member John Bellah interviewed Dr. Tiffany Doan, the current chair of the Nominations Committee.
Official duties
The primary objective of the SSAR Nominating Committee is to identify and nominate enthusiastic candidates to stand for election to SSAR offices. Historically, SSAR officers are expected to be individuals who will work for the Society while in office.
Specifically, the Nominations Committee selects candidates to serve elected positions on the Board of Directors (BoD), according to a set of guidelines and operating procedures. The BoD consists of Officers (President, Treasurer, Secretary, Immediate Past President, President-elect, Publications Secretary), Directors (eight positions), and Editors. All, except Publications Secretary and Editors, are elected positions. The President who served prior to the current President is designated the Immediate Past President and the President-Elect assumes the role of President at the end of the current President’s two-year term. The Directors serve 4-year terms. The Director roles are staggered, meaning half of the Directors are replaced every 2 years. The Nominations Committee normally strives to have at least two people running for each office (except for Treasurer and Secretary, who generally run unopposed).
Activities throughout the year, including at the annual meeting
Most of the work for this committee occurs when officers’ terms are about to expire, every other year. Alternate years are considered off-years for the Nominations Committee unless a position opens unexpectedly. During the year leading up to the election (even years, e.g. 2020, 2022), the committee identifies individuals to serve elected positions on the BoD. Once candidates are identified and have agreed to run for office, their names are forwarded to the SSAR Secretary. The official ballot is presented to the BoD by the Nominations Committee Chair at the annual SSAR meeting. SSAR membership can then make additions to the ballot at the Board or Business meetings. Once the final ballot has been approved, voting begins no later than 1 month after the annual meeting.
Interactions with other SSAR committees and leaders
The Nominations Chair primarily interacts with the BoD when presenting the nominees at the annual SSAR meeting. The nominations Chair also works with the current SSAR President when selecting new members for the Nominations Committee.
Path to joining the Nominations Committee
The Nominations Committee is composed of five people who are all directly appointed by the current President, and who typically have served on other committees or in other roles. For example, Dr. Doan has served as the Nominations Committee Chair since 2017. Prior to this she was the chair of the Victor Hutchinson Award and Siebert Award committees, an editor for Journal of Herpetology, and a two-term Director.
Future of the committee
Overall, Dr. Doan does not see the committee changing very much in the future. In contrast with most other committees, the role of the Nominations Committee is specified in the SSAR constitution, so any changes would require changes to the constitution. The nominations committee strives for diversity and inclusivity when selecting candidates.
Members with ideas or suggestions for nominations are encouraged to contact Dr. Doan at (tiffperu@yahoo.com).
Tiffany Doan
Marked declines in herpetological biodiversity are being documented worldwide. SSAR exists to advance research, conservation, and education concerning these species. Therefore, after working out complex logistics with our investment manager, SSAR is pleased to announce that it has divested from oil and gas investments to develop an eco-friendly investment portfolio in line with our mission. When you support SSAR, we want you to know that we are doing our best to spend and invest those funds wisely to support the causes that you value.
Dear SSAR Members,
The JMIH 2020 has been cancelled. All registrations will be refunded at 100%. Refunds can be requested using the refund request form posted on the meeting website. Alternatively, you may donate your registration funds to offset the costs of cancellation.
This has been a difficult decision, involving both public health and financial considerations. Ultimately, the four Presidents of the JMIH societies (Susan Walls, HL; Dave Ebert, AES; Chris Beachy ASIH; and myself, SSAR), in consultation with our respective Boards/Executive Committees, unanimously decided that the right thing to do for the sake of public health was to cancel at the present time.
Some may wonder why we did not cancel several weeks ago. Cancellation of the 2020 JMIH was going to cost approximately $240,000 to $300,000, due to contracts with the hotels and vendors. We believed that if we could lower this extraordinary expense, negotiation between our meeting planning group Burk and Associates and our conference partners in Norfolk was worthwhile. We have ultimately agreed to a “cancellation with postponement” and will hold the JMIH 2023 in Norfolk. As a consequence, our financial penalty has been greatly reduced.
I know it is a great disappointment to all who intended to present their research and interact with colleagues during the 2020 JMIH in Norfolk this summer, but we feel that cancellation was the responsible decision–both to our members and to public health overall. The 2021 JMIH will be in Phoenix in July, but SSAR will have its stand-alone meeting in Ann Arbor, 5-9 August 2021. I hope to see you all in Ann Arbor. I wish you all safety and good health.
Best wishes,
Marty Crump
President, SSAR
SSAR is pleased to announce receipt of a major donation from Dr. William S. Parker, member of the society for more than 50 years. The funds are split 80% for the Conant Grants-in-Herpetology program and 20% for the Dean Metter Memorial Award. Both of these programs provide grants to support graduate student research. The Conant Grants-in-Herpetology program supports student research in seven categories—conservation, field research, laboratory research, travel, international, herpetological education, and undergraduate research in herpetology. The Dean Metter Memorial Award supports field research anywhere in the world, but with preference for work in his home state of Missouri. Bill’s generous donation will help to further the careers of many future professional herpetologists. When asked why he chose to donate to these two particular funds, Bill said, “Receipt of similar grant monies greatly enhanced my graduate research experiences.”
Bill Parker received his BA degree from Wabash College in Indiana in 1964. He received his MS degree from Arizona State University in 1966, working with Martin J. (“Jack”) Fouquette and Wendell L. Minckley. From 1966 to 1967 he was a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Kansas, working with Henry S. Fitch, and from 1967 to 1970 he served as an Artillery/Air Defense Officer in the U.S. Army. Bill returned to graduate school and earned his PhD from the University of Utah in 1974 under the direction of Harold F. Hirth. He served as Professor of Biology at Mississippi University for Women from 1974 until 2007 and is currently Emeritus Professor of Biology at that university. Bill’s research interests have focused broadly on reptile ecology. Throughout his long career he has published dozens of journal articles, symposium contributions, and book chapters on the ecology of lizards, snakes, and turtles. His subjects have included horned lizards, desert spiny lizards, leopard lizards, fence lizards, desert iguanas, banded geckos, box turtles, slider turtles, whipsnakes, rattlesnakes, and more. Many of his publications were co-authored with William S. Brown on snakes and Eric R. Pianka on lizards.
From January 1991 through March 2006, Bill served as Managing Editor of Journal of Herpetology. He saw the journal through 61 issues during those years, a record-long period spanning the terms of four consecutive editors. Bill retains a certain amount of pride in having helped so many authors, including those from over 50 different countries, complete their publication experience.
Bill has long been actively involved in volunteer work, including a local crisis phoneline, local animal shelters, local arts councils, and local photography contests. His current interests include photography, travel, classical music by women, reading, and philanthropy. SSAR thanks Bill for his long-time dedication to the society, which now includes his generous support of student research.
For this installment of the SSAR leadership profiles, Student Participation Committee member Amanda Hewes interviewed Dr. Roberto Brenes, the current chair of the Roger Conant Grants-in-Herpetology committee.
Official duties
The Roger Conant Grants-in-Herpetology are $500 grants primarily awarded to student members of SSAR (exceptions listed on the grant web page under “who can apply?”). Grants are awarded in the fields of Conservation of Amphibians and Reptiles, Field Research, Laboratory Research, Travel, International, Herpetological Education, and Undergraduate Research in Herpetology. The chair of the Roger Conant Grants-in-Herpetology committee is responsible for receiving grant applications, finding reviewers, organizing the review process, reporting the award winners, and submitting an annual report to the board.
Yearly Activities
Grant applications are due in December of each year. The application submission period begins in September, at which point the committee chair has several concurrent responsibilities. The first is to field incoming applications submitted via email. Additionally, the chair must actively seek out reviewers to assess the applications. Reviewers are chosen based on their expertise, and many are from within SSAR. After the application window closes, the chair verifies that the applications meet the content requirements before sending them to reviewers. Each category has specific requirements for the grant application, which are detailed on the Roger Conant Grants-in-Herpetology page on the SSAR website. Each category has one to two reviewers, depending on reviewer availability and number of applications. For categories with one reviewer, the reviewer fills out a rubric for each proposal and either the highest scoring or the two highest scoring proposals are funded, depending on the number of applicants. For categories with two reviewers, the applications are split between them, and the highest scoring application from each reviewer is funded. Awardees are usually announced in May or June. The SSAR president sends letters of congratulations to the successful applicants, and checks are sent by the treasurer.
Interactions with other SSAR committees and leaders
The chair of the Grants-in-Herpetology committee is responsible for attending the annual Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH) and actively communicating with the SSAR board. For record-keeping purposes, the chair must submit a report to the board detailing how many people applied for awards, who received an award, and how much money was awarded.
Path to joining the Grants-in-Herpetology committee
Dr. Brenes first joined SSAR as a graduate student in 2002 and presented at JMIH annually during his first several years of membership. During that time, Brenes received a Grants-in-Herpetology award. Even though he started off actively participating in SSAR, Brenes began to drift from the society as the focus of his research shifted. With advancements in his academic career, his work started to focus more on infectious disease in tropical amphibians, which steered him toward epidemiology meetings and conferences. Brenes made his way back to SSAR several years later, when he was asked to review Grants-in-Herpetology applications, which he did for three years. Once the previous long-term committee chair stepped down, Brenes was asked by Dr. Marty Crump —whom Brenes had known for years due to their shared interest in tropical amphibians— if he would like to take on the position. Brenes points to his field work, as well as previous roles as both a grant recipient and reviewer, as experiences that aid him in the role of the committee chair.
Future of the committee
A short-term goal currently underway is to make the application submission process more streamlined by implementing a Dropbox system. With a Dropbox system, all grants will be submitted to one portal, and it will be possible to automate checking for completeness to some degree. In addition, changes will be made to the Roger Conant Grants-in-Herpetology page on the SSAR website to accommodate the new submission system and to direct applicants to the submission portal. These changes will be implemented for the 2020 application cycle.
A long-term goal of the committee is to increase its presence at the annual meeting. The committee is committed to this goal for two key reasons. (1) Soliciting reviewers in-person at the annual meeting will likely make the reviewer search much easier. (2) Putting a face to the committee chair position will help to increase student involvement. A strong presence at the annual meeting will better acquaint students with the committee chair, hopefully making them more comfortable reaching out about possible volunteer opportunities. As a related activity, the committee hopes to create specific roles for students, a plan still in the works.
Roberto Brenes
HR March 2020, Volume 51, Number 1. Our cover features a beautiful example of a Painted Wood Turtle (Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima), photographed in Oaxaca, México by Aldo López Velázquez. López Velázquez is a PhD candidate in biological sciences at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, where he studies chytridiomycosis dynamics in amphibians. This issue is scheduled to be mailed on 25 March, and full contents are now available online to SSAR members at https://ssarherps.org/herpetological-review-pdfs/. Natural History Notes, Geographic Distribution Notes, and Book Reviews are Open Access and are 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 Aldo for his outstanding cover photo!
Applications are now open for Student Travel Awards for JMIH 2020. The application deadline is May 4, 2020.
Award checks will be disbursed at the SSAR Business Meeting. Application materials are preferred in electronic form (either PDF or Microsoft Word) and should be sent to Ariana Rupp (arianarupp91@gmail.com); however, if an electronic submission is not possible please contact Ariana Rupp to arrange the delivery of a hard copy. Hard copies sent via postal mail must be postmarked prior to 4 May 2020 to be considered; however the drawing will take place on May 7th to ensure students have an opportunity to register before the early bird deadline. Therefore, if you must send in your application via postal mail it is recommended that you send it earlier.
For more information: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/student-travel-award/
UPDATE : THE CONFERENCE HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2020, AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR MAY 2021
Vincent Farallo and Shawn Kuchta would like to remind everyone that this year they will be hosting the 8th Conference on the Biology of Plethodontid Salamanders to be held May 22nd – 23rd in Athens, OH. Registration is now open with a soft closing date of May 1st (some services will be unavailable after this date). Abstract submission is also open through April 1st including both oral presentation and posters. Additional information can be found on the meeting website (https://plethodontidae.weebly.com/), including contact information in case you have additional questions. We look forward to seeing everyone there!
