SSAR Symposium proposals for the 2016 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH) in New Orleans, Louisiana, are due to the SSAR Coordinator by 1 March 2015. See proposal requirements here.
Gans Collections and Charitable Fund
The private foundation established by the late Carl Gans is continuing his legacy in herpetology and biology through the dissemination of his works and offering grants to students within his fields of study.
The fund has announced that it will support two types of awards available to both graduate and undergraduate students who are attending this summer’s Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles meeting at the University of Kansas (30 July – 3 August 2015). The award types are: registration awards, which will cover the full student registration fee of US $150, and travel awards, which will support student travel expenses. All students are eligible for both awards, regardless of nationality. Applicants must present a paper (oral or poster) at the meeting within the broad spectrum of research conducted by Gans on the biology of reptiles and amphibians to be eligible. The application deadline for both awards is 15 February 2015. See here for more information: http://carlgans.org/grants/
Professor Gans was considered one of the preeminent specialists on the biology of reptiles and made contributions to their systematics, comparative and functional morphology, physiology, biomechanics, and behavior in over 600 publications. The fund consists of a Board of Trustees led by Leo Gans, Dr. Ronald Gans, and Eva Lynn Gans, and a Scientific Advisory Board, which is under the direction of Drs. Kraig Adler, Aaron Bauer, Amos Bouskila, Herb Rosenberg, and Linda Trueb.
Carl Gans in 1997 holding a Shingleback Skink (Tiliqua rugosa), taken from the 2010 obituary in Herpetological Review by Kraig Adler
The Gans Collections and Charitable Fund has recently published Gans’ Biology of the Reptilia series online, freely available at carlgans.org. The series consists of 22 volumes and approximately 14,000 pages, covering the morphology, behavior, development, ecology, neurology, and physiology of reptiles. The webpage provides the complete table of contents and index of the series, as well as direct access to the full content of every volume. The Fund hopes that access to this valuable resource will enable and inspire further study in these fields.
New SSAR Officers Elected for 2015
The following new officers were elected for 2015:
President Elect – Rick Shine
New Board Members:
Kim Lovich (2018, Conservation)
Robin Andrews (2018, Regular)
Emily Taylor (2018, Regular)
Tony Gamble (2018, Member-at-Large)
New Committee Chairs:
Jeremy Feinberg has replaced Dawn Wilson as Student Participation Committee Chair
Jeff Ettling has replaced Marina Gerson and Ann Paterson as Membership Committee Chair
Congratulations to our new President-Elect, Board Members and Committee Chairs!
Due 9 January: Grant for grad students working in SW US and Mexico
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.