Society News – Page 12 – Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

2015 Student Award Winners!

Posted August 25, 2015 by Farallo, Vincent

At the 2015 meeting of the SSAR several students were recognized for exceptional oral and poster presentations. The award for oral presentations, named for Henri C. Seibert, was presented to four students in four seperate categories; Systematics/Evolution: Carl Hutter (University of Kansas), Ecology: Nick Huron (University of Oklahoma), Conservation: Tyler Hoskins (Miami University), and Physiology/Morphology: David Penning (University of Louisiana at Lafayette).

There were also eight honorable mentions; Systematics/Evolution: Jesse Grismer (University of Kansas), Pascal Title (University of Michigan), Alexa Warwick (Florida State University), Ecology: Alex Rohtla (Villanova), Conservation: Daniel Quinn (Truman State University), and Physiology/Morphology: Melissa Van Kleeck (University of Hawaii at Manoa), Robin Abraham (University of Kansas). A special mention to six excellent undergraduate presentations in the Systematics/Evolution category with Matt Buehler (University of Kansas) giving a particularly impressive talk.

2015 Seibert Award Winners

The award for poster presentations, named for Victor Hutchison, was presented to three students: Evolution, Genetics, & Systematics: Aaron Griffing, Conservation and Management: Peter Delgado, Ecology, Natural History, Distribution, & Behavior: Ellee Cook.

Aaron Griffing accepting his award from Victor Hutchison and award chair, Tiffany Doan. Joe Mendelson looks on approvingly.

We also presented 12 students with a $500 travel award to allow them to attend the meeting. These were drawn at random from students who applied for the award which required presenting at the meeting and having not received the award previously, winners include Chris Thawley, Rachel Flanagan, Stu Nielsen, Zachary Martin, Megan Smith, Brian Lavin, Molly Womack, Alexandra Gonzalez, John Phillips, Andrea Roth, Jordan Meyer, and Arianne Messerman.

Six of the 12 Student Travel Award Winner. Stu Nielsen is clearly the most excited about his award.

For more information on any of these awards please visit their respective pages, Henri Seibert Award, Victor Hutchison Student Poster Award, and Student Travel Award!

A Message from the SSAR President, Aaron Bauer

Posted August 22, 2015 by Farallo, Vincent

We generally think of the National Science Foundation as a reliable (albeit highly competitive) source of federal funding for all of basic research, including herpetology. But we can’t accept that as a given. NSF’s budget and aspect of its focus and direction are determined by Congress and there are always pressures and threats to cut the budget or to change NSF’s mandate to something that is more applied, more revenue driven, or more in line with interests other than quality science. SSAR has joined 48 other biological organizations in signing onto a letter about the future of NSF drafted by the American Institute of Biological Sciences and directed to the Senate Commerce Committee. In so doing we are making it clear that we believe that the priorities of the National Science Foundation should be set by the Foundation, not by Congress, and that science and the country are well-served by an NSF that support of pure science, in all areas of research, based on the peer-review system.

-Aaron Bauer

Click image to download a PDF of the full letter.

SSAR 2015 Meeting – It was great!

Posted July 20, 2015 by Michelle Koo

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

2015 Meeting at the University of Kansas

THURSDAY, JULY 30 – SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2015

Pseudacris crucifer, photo by Todd Pierson

The full schedule of oral and poster presentations is available for download.

SSAR held its 2015 meeting on the beautiful and centrally located campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence. All scientific sessions were held in the Kansas Union, which is adjacent to the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, the setting of more than a century of research and graduate education in herpetology. This was a joint meeting with the Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) events.

Check the website!

Featured speakers include:

Keynote Speech by David Hillis “Evolutionary Insights from Studying Amphibians and Reptiles”
Plenary Lecture by Harry Greene “The Life and Times of a KU Herpetologic Icon: Henry Fitch”
Presidential Lecture by Miguel Vences “Inventory of an Imperiled Paradise: Two Decades of Herpetology in Madagascar”
PARC Special Speaker Tyrone Hayes “From Silent Spring to Silent Night: A Tale of Toads and Men”

Conference highlights included:
• SSAR Symposium “Bones, Frogs, and Evolution” honoring Dr. Linda Trueb.
• SSAR Symposium “Frontiers in Integrative Organismal Biology: Herpetological Horizons.”
• Reception honoring distinguished senior herpetologists.
• The Herpetological Quiz, arranged by the graduate students at UT Arlington and KU, with prizes.
• Guided tours of herpetological collections and newly renovated laboratories in the museum.
• Tour of the Fitch Reservation at the KU Biological Field Station and Reserves, led by George Pisani.
• Special presentation for the International Society for the History and Bibliography of Herpetology featuring author Sally Haines of the KU Spencer Research Library.
• Redesigned audiovisual shows arranged by David Dennis and Eric Juterbock.
• Display of live Kansas amphibians and reptiles with photographic set-ups.
• Exploring non-academic careers in herpetology: a lunch time event for students hosted by PARC.

Read more: Details online and in the new flyer.

Herpetological Review 46(2)

Posted July 7, 2015 by Michelle Koo

Herpetological Review 46(2)

Call for Symposia – Proposals due 31 July 2015 for WCH8 Hanzhou, China

Posted June 1, 2015 by Spencer, Carol

The 8th World Congress of Herpetology (WCH8) will be held 15-21 August 2016 in Hangzhou, China. The Organizing Committee is currently inviting proposals for symposia at WCH8. Each symposium will last two hours, with eight 15-min presentations.

If you are interested in organizing a symposium, please submit your proposal via email no later than 31 July 2015 to the following e-mail addresses:
Professor Xiang Ji, Nanjing Normal University
xiangji150@hotmail.com/ jixiang@njnu.edu.cn

Dr. Hong Li, Nanjing Normal University
njlihong@outlook.com/ njlihong@163.com

The proposal should include:

The title of the proposed symposium
Names of the organizers and their affiliations
A brief description of the theme
A tentative list of speakers

All proposals will be evaluated by the Scientific Program Committee chaired by Professor Ya-Ping Zhang, and up to 30 will be selected based on scientific merit and the timeliness of the
topic. The selected symposium will be announced by 31 August 2015.

For more information about the 2016 congress (WCH8), please visit the website at:
http://www.wch2016hangzhou.com

Best regards,
Xiang Ji
Professor in Ecology & Zoology
President, Chinese Herpetological Society
Secretary General Elect, World Congress of Herpetology
Chair, Local Organizing Committee for WCH8
Nanjing Normal University, China

April 30th deadline for student travel award applications

Posted April 29, 2015 by Spencer, Carol

April 30th, 2015 is the deadline for submission to the 2015 SSAR Student Travel Awards. Please see here for more information.

SSAR Symposium Proposals for 2016 JMIH due 1 March 2015

Posted January 21, 2015 by Spencer, Carol

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

Posted January 20, 2015 by Daniel Paluh

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

Posted January 20, 2015 by Spencer, Carol

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

Posted January 6, 2015 by Spencer, Carol

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.

Contents: