The Jones-Lovich Grant for Southwestern Herpetology is available for 2015 and awards $1000 to one student working in the southwestern US or NW Mexico. Applications are due 9 January 2015 (Friday) at 5 pm. For more information and to download the application see the Herpetologists’ League Student Awards page.
The Peruvian Nightlife
In case you hadn’t heard, The Chicago Field Museum is host to a new kind of employee… the Chief Curiosity Correspondent. The position was created after Emily Graslie’s YouTube channel, The Brain Scoop, based on her work at the Phillip L. Wright Zoological Museum at the University of Montana, bringing thousands of YouTube subscribers into the world of natural history and taxidermy.
The Brain Scoop takes viewers through the process of skinning a wolf and the bat caves of Kenya. This past month, however, Emily and her coworkers completed a trip to Peru for the Field Museum. The first video is out, and if you’re interested in Amazonian amphibians and reptiles, along with bugs and bats, Emily has a treat for you.
Emily brings a refreshing attitude to the natural sciences, and her passion for nature and its preservation shines throughout the videos. I personally cannot wait until she enters the Field Museum’s amphibian and reptile collection and am hoping a Chinese Giant Salamander makes the show!
This first video is only the first in a series highlighting the group’s trip to Peru. Check it out below! Access The Brain Scoop social media pages below.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thebrainscoop
Tumblr: http://thebrainscoop.tumblr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBrainScoop
Joint Society Letter to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
–Joint Society Letter to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service–
The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the Herpetologists’ League, and the Canadian Herpetological Society have submitted a joint letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in response to recent discoveries that Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans could have a significant effect upon some North American salamander species.
That letter is here: Letter to USFWS
For more information, you can also read an op-ed in the New York Times by Karen Lips and Joe Mendelson or the recent study published in Science.
New Species of Large Pit-Viper Discovered in The Himalaya
Pit-vipers of the genus Protobothrops distribute in East and Southeast Asia, and many species live in mountain areas with high elevations. Recently, a new species of genus was discovered along the Himalaya Mountain Ranges in southern Tibet, China and Sikkim, India in 2012. The new species, Protobothrops himalayanus, was named after its type locality, the Himalayas Mountain Ranges. It can be diagnosed from its congeners by the combination of large body size (reaching up to 1.5mm in total length), distinct scale counts (dorsal sacles 25-25-19, subcaudal scales 65-76, supralabials scales 7-8, and infralabials scales 11-13), and its unique color patterns.
Despite the recent discovery, herpetologists have very little information regarding the snake’s ecology, behavior, distribution range, and population size. With the potential threats posted by habitat degradation, population assessments of the species are urgent and conservation efforts need to be made accordingly soon.
Photographs by Zhang Liang from South China Institute of Endangered Animals.
Reference:
Pan H., Chettri B., Yang D., Jiang K., Wang K., Zhang L., and Vogel G. 2013. A new species of the genus Protobothrops (Squamata: Viperidae) from Southern Tibet, China and Sikkim India. Asian Herpetological Research, 4(2): 109-115.
M.Sc. positions available Spring and Fall 2015
The Department of Biology at John Carroll University is seeking applicants for our Master of Science program (TWO for Spring 2015 and several for Fall 2015). We are a research-active department that advises students in a diversity of areas (e.g., systematics, ethology, physiology, anatomy, chemical ecology and cell & molecular biology) but that emphasizes the role of evolution as an organizing principle of biology. We have an excellent record of generating publications with our Master’s students, and of placing students into excellent PhD programs after completion of their MS degrees. We will consider applications for these positions until they fill.
These funded positions will require 20 hours/week of work as a graduate teaching assistant within labs that are being taught, in exchange for a tuition waiver and modest nine-month stipend.
Information about our department:
Information about our faculty and the research that they conduct:
Review this list of faculty to identify a laboratory to which you’d like to apply.
http://sites.jcu.edu/biology/pages/faculty-and-staff/
Information about our graduate programs:
http://sites.jcu.edu/biology/pages/programs-of-study/graduate-2/
Application deadline for Spring 2015 positions:
Applications will be reviewed until these positions are filled.
Application process:
http://sites.jcu.edu/biology/pages/programs-of-study/graduate-2/application-process-and-deadlines/
Questions about the application process, contact:
Dr. Christopher Sheil
Professor, Graduate Coordinator
Department of Biology
John Carroll University
20700 North Park Boulevard
University Heights, OH 44118
Email: csheil@jcu.edu
Phone: 216.397.3088
New information about the 2015 SSAR meeting in Kansas!
Check out our page for the 2015 University of Kansas meeting for continuous updates. Just now, we have posted two updates about keynote, plenary, and presidential lecturers, symposia, meeting costs, and more. And check back, because more information is soon to come!
Research Zoologist Opening at the Smithsonian (NMNH)
OPENING:
Research Zoologist
Department of Vertebrate Zoology
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History seeks a zoologist to conduct an integrative, specimen- or collection-based research program in vertebrate evolution and biodiversity, in the disciplines of herpetology, ichthyology, mammalogy, and/or ornithology, particularly herpetology. The successful candidate is expected to develop an internationally recognized research program that makes important contributions to understanding vertebrate evolution and biodiversity through integrative research involving phylogenetics, anatomy, development, genomics, biogeography, conservation, informatics, or related fields. Frequent publication of highly regarded papers in competitive, peer-reviewed journals, curation of collections in specialty area, service to the scientific community in leadership capacities, acquisition of external funding, engagement in outreach activities, and mentorship of students are expected.
Full-time 4-year term appointment* with full Government benefits to be filled at the GS-12 level; US citizenship required. The museum’s authorized salary range for this position at this time is $75,621 – $80,662 per annum. College transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study must be submitted online by the closing date of announcement or your application will be disqualified.For complete requirements and application procedures go to www.sihr.si.edu or www.usajobs.gov and refer to Announcement 14A-JW-299546-DEU-NMNH. The announcement opens Monday, September 29, 2014. Applications and all supporting documentationmust be received on-line by Monday, October 27, 2014 and must reference the announcement number.All applicants will be notified by email when their application is received. The Smithsonian Institution is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
*This is a permanent Federal position, the first four years of which are probationary.
Posted by request; please use contact above, not SSARHERPS.
SSAR Bloggers Wanted!
Eurycea lucifuga from Giles County, VA
For the SSAR website, we are always seeking people who will create new blog posts, including SSAR relevant news items such as job openings, new interesting herpetology related publications, SSAR-specific society updates, herpetology-focused meetings (or on talks presented at general meetings that focused on herpetology), and other fun herp facts or videos. Writing blog posts will give people an opportunity to be involved with SSAR and is a perfect opportunity for undergraduates and graduate students, but it’s open to anyone who is interested in contributing. If you would like to contribute blog posts to the SSAR website, please send us an e-mail, and we can provide you with additional information.
Web Committee hard at work
Todd Pierson (Univ. Georgia) and Vinny Farallo (Ohio Univ.), some of the web committee members charged with revamping the entire SSAR website, are hard at work ‘salamandering’ in April. Getting nice and muddy, flipping logs and creek-walking are the only ways to tackle this kind of work!
Also, decided that Urspelerpes is the smallest salamander in the USA.
Morafka Award Announcement
DAVID J. MORAFKA MEMORIAL RESEARCH AWARD
2015
In honor and memory of Prof. 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. berlandieri, and G. flavomarginatus.
Desert Tortoise Council
Award Amount: $2,000 to be awarded at the Desert Tortoise Council’s Annual Symposium, depending on the availability of funding and an appropriate recipient.
Eligibility: Applicants must be associated with a recognized institution (e.g., university, museum, government agency, non-governmental organization) and may be graduate students, post-doctoral students, or other researchers. They must agree to present a report on the results of the research in which award funds were used at a future symposium of the Desert Tortoise Council.
Evaluation Criteria: Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the potential of the research to contribute to the biological knowledge of one or more of the above gopher tortoise species, and to their management and conservation. Important considerations are the significance and originality of the research problem, design of sampling and analysis, preliminary data supporting the feasibility of the research, and the likelihood of successful completion and publication.
Application Procedure:
1. Download and open an application form from the Desert Tortoise Council’s website. The form is electronically interactive.
2. Provide all information requested on the application, including a description of the research project in no more than 1,200 words.
3. Submit the completed application to grstewart@csupomona.edu as a pdf document.
4. Applications must be supported by the applicant’s CV and three letters of recommendation, one of which must be from the applicant’s research advisor, supervisor, or a knowledgeable colleague. Instruct the recommenders to submit their letters to grstewart@csupomona.edu as pdf documents.
5. All application materials and letters of recommendation must be received by December 1, 2014. They will be evaluated by a committee of gopher tortoise biologists appointed by the Desert Tortoise Council Board of Directors.
6. The research award recipient will be notified of his/her selection by January 19, 2015 and the award will be presented at the 2015 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium,