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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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