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Gans Collections and Charitable Fund

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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.

From the 2010 obituary in Herpetological Review by Kraig Adler

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.

Biology of the Reptilia

New SSAR Officers Elected for 2015

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The following new officers were elected for 2015:

RickShinewith cane toad

 

 

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!

Joint Society Letter to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

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–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.

SSAR Bloggers Wanted!

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Cave Salamander

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

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salamanderingTodd 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

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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

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,

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