SSAR is now accepting applications for the 2023 Founders Fellowship for Pre-College Scholars! Applications are due November 30, 2022.

For more information, please see https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/pre-college-award/

Herpetological Review Volume 53, Number 3 (September 2022), is now available! Our cover features a fantastic image of an amplectant pair of Natterjack Toads (Epidalea calamita) that were photographed by Javier Lobon-Rovira in Spain. The species is characterized by a robust body with relatively short limbs, prominent parotoid glands, and tympana that are barely visible. Epidalea calamita can be easily found with the first rains of autumn and spring in temporary ponds along the countryside, where they will reproduce explosively, carpeting these ponds with their characteristic egg masses.

The issue has been posted online, is being printed, and will mail soon. Full contents are now available online to SSAR members at https://ssarherps.org/herpetological-review-pdfs/. Natural History Notes, Geographic Distribution Notes, and Book Reviews are Open Access and are available for download at the same link. If you are not a member of SSAR, please consider joining the leading international herpetological society. Student and online-only rates are available. Follow the “Join SSAR” link on the home page. Congratulations to Javier for a great cover image!

Herpetological Review Volume 53, Number 2 (June 2022), is now available! Our cover features a stunning Blue Malaysian Coral Snake (Calliophis bivirgatus) that was photographed by Scott Trageser in Singapore. This colorful, slender elapid has a red head, tail, and underside and dark blue-to-black dorsum with two lighter blue stripes running down the body and inhabits lowland and low montane areas across southeast Asia. Calliophis bivirgatus is one of only a few species recognized to have elongated venom glands that extend up to 25% of the body length.

The issue has been posted online, is being printed, and will mail soon. Full contents are now available online to SSAR members at https://ssarherps.org/herpetological-review-pdfs/. Natural History Notes, Geographic Distribution Notes, and Book Reviews are Open Access and are available for download at the same link. If you are not a member of SSAR, please consider joining the leading international herpetological society (membership info here). Student and online-only rates are available. Follow the “Join SSAR” link on the home page. Congratulations to Scott for a great cover image!

Faculty who are recruiting students for the 2023-2023 academic year (or postdocs to begin any time) can fill out this form:
https://forms.gle/oDwsh82mRYyjySC17

The form populates a view-only spreadsheet that prospective applicants can use to find labs that match their interests.

 

Prospective applicants to master’s, PhD, and postdoctoral positions can check out this spreadsheet of faculty who are currently recruiting:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cDo-xRoSjNGG5OAn-J16FgX1LlcDfKdU8KKo-nO31u8/edit?usp=sharing

The spreadsheet has five separate tabs to help you navigate:

1. All advertised positions
2. Master’s positions
3. PhD positions
4. Postdoctoral positions where the PI already has funding
5. PIs who don’t currently have funding for postdocs but who are happy to help with postdoctoral fellowship applications

Check back periodically for new entries, which are added to the bottom of the spreadsheet.

 

Advice for students navigating the application process:

Most PhD programs will cover your tuition and pay you a stipend; master’s programs may or may not be funded (someone put together this handy spreadsheet to provide information on some funded master’s programs in organismal biology). Funding situations vary wildly by department, though, so you should reach out to people whose labs interest you to ask for details.

Sending the first email to a prospective advisor can be intimidating. If you have a mentor who can help you, it’s wise to get their help. If you need to figure out how to write the email on your own, this blog post has some useful tips: https://contemplativemammoth.com/2013/04/08/so-you-want-to-go-to-grad-school-nail-the-inquiry-email/

You will want to choose a lab that not only does research you find interesting, but that will also provide a supportive environment where you can thrive. Many factors go into a good graduate school experience. Bobby Espinoza, a professor at Cal State Northridge, has prepared a list of sample questions that you might want to ask of prospective advisors, their current students (very important!), and other people in the department to collect the information you will need to make an informed graduate school decision: Questions for Prospective Advisors & Programs.

In April-May 2021, SSAR’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) created and disseminated a membership diversity survey with several purposes:

• To establish a benchmark for future assessments of SSAR’s efforts towards recruiting and retaining a diverse membership through initiatives that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• To recognize and welcome people of many identities who make up the current and future membership of SSAR.
• To help SSAR equitably serve the needs of all members.

The DEIC has completed a thorough report on the survey results. We encourage all SSAR leaders and committees to read and think deeply about the entire report, to consider how its findings might guide their current and future activities, and then to enact positive change on the institutional level. We encourage all SSAR members to learn from these findings and to consider that they as individuals can contribute a more inclusive environment in SSAR and in all their spheres of influence.

See below for links to the full report and to a shortened version:

• SSAR Diversity Survey Report 2021: Full Report
• SSAR Diversity Survey Report 2021: Short Version

Do you want to help parents make the most out of the 2022 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH) in Spokane? SSAR, ASIH, AES, and HL have joined forces for a fundraiser for childcare.

We are accepting donations via the ASIH website – scroll to the link at the bottom that says Childcare Fund: link to donation page. Please note that you will have to make a (free) ASIH account, if you do not already have one.

Our goal for this fundraiser is to offset the costs so that we can offer subsidized childcare to our members (free to student parents!) These funds will make JMIH more accessible to members with families. Here is a video with a message from our presidents: link to YouTube video.

We also plan to support childcare into the future by establishing an endowment, so please stay tuned for long-term fundraising efforts!

An award in the amount of $500 was made to each of the following individuals.

 

For more information on the program, see https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/grants-in-herpetology/.

 

Conservation:

Travis Rainey (Central Michigan University), “A Tiny Frog Facing Big Problems: Assessing Population Structure and Landscape Genetics at the Range Edge of a Declining Species.”

Iwo Gross (Auburn University), “Evaluating the Conservation Priority of Diamond-Backed Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) Nesting Beaches along the Northern Gulf of Mexico.”

 

International:

Avantika Deep Sharma (National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India), “Intra-sexual interactions, signaling and spacing in the gliding lizard Draco dussumieri.”

Yashendu C Joshi (National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India), “The Crocodile Conundrum of Charotar: Understanding Crocodile Behaviour and their Socioecological Connections with Humans.”

Remo Boscarino-Gaetano (University of Guelph, Canada), “Population genetics of fragmented and non-Fragmented Populations of a Reptile at its Northern Range Limit.”

 

Travel:

Alondra Medina (James Madison University), “Does Soil Stoichiometry Affect Leaf Litter Amphibian and Reptile Abundance, Biomass and Community Structure in Neotropical Wet Forests?”

Kathleen Webster (University of New Mexico), “Assessing the Vulnerability of Island Endemic Herpetofauna to Environmental Change in the Comoros Archipelago.”

Morgan R. Muell (Auburn University), “Examining Geographic Variation in Developmental Plasticity in Anolis carolinensis.”

 

Laboratory research:

Teslin Chaney (The University of Texas El Paso), “Phylogenetics and Integrative Taxonomy of African Water Snakes (Squamata: Colubridae: Grayia).”

Anna Bushong (Purdue University), “Using an Amphibian Model to Study the Effects of Forever Chemicals.”

Grace Vaziri (University of Connecticut), “Experimentally Testing how Past and Current Winter Conditions Shape pre-Hibernation and Immune Phenotypes in Wood Frogs.”

Rysa Thomas (James Madison University), “Characterization of Glucocorticoid and Mineralocorticoid Receptor Expression across a Seasonal Life-History Transition in the Red-Sided Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis.”

 

Undergraduate research:

Scott Kornfeind (Moravian University), “Understanding the Effects of Microplastics on Anuran Larval Development.”

Yucheol Shin (Kangwon National University, Korea), “Integrative Approaches to Resolve the Species Boundary between Elaphe anomala and Elaphe schrenckii (Serpentes: Colubridae): One Variable Species or Two Distinct Species?”

 

Field Research in Herpetology:

Savannah Weaver (California Polytechnic State University), “Assessing the Variability of Evaporative Water Loss and Hydration Across Species, Time, and Space.”

Brendan Enochs (University of Connecticut), “The Role of Forest Floor Microclimate Variation in the Maintenance of the Plethodon cinereus Color Polymorphism.”

Kentrell Richardson (James Madison University), “Understanding Context-Dependent Responses to Climate Change in Arizona Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum).”

Sarah Sexton (Southeastern Louisiana University), “Estimating the Sex Ratio of Hatchling Hawksbill Sea Turtles in Bocas del Toro, Panama.”

 

Education:

Mahamad Sayab (Tribhuvan University, Nepal), “Conservation of Snakes through Community Outreach Programs and School Teaching.”

Ashley Taylor (Zoo Atlanta), “Snakes of Metro Atlanta Identification Guide.”

 

 

Chair of the Roger Conant Grants-In-Herpetology, Roberto Brenes, would like to sincerely thank the SSAR-Roger Conant GIH Reviewers who all worked very hard.  He greatly appreciates their time and effort.

Donald Brown (West Virginia University)

Grover Brown (Jacksonville State University)

Daniel Edwards (University of California, Merced)

Eric Gangloff (Ohio Wesleyan University)

Chris Gienger (Austin Peay State University)

Letecia Ochoa (UNAM, Mexico)

Beth Reinke (Northeastern Illinois University)

Dean Williams (Texas Christian University)

 

Herpetological Review Volume 53, Number 1 (March 2022) is now available! Our cover features a stunning photograph of the Iberian Ribbed Newt (Pleurodeles waltl), photographed by Jari Cornelis from near Valencia, Spain. Pleurodeles waltl is the largest European species of newt and is found in the central and southern Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. Many newts can secrete toxins through the skin; however, only a few, including P. waltl, can protrude their ribs through their skin and while doing so coat their ribs in the toxins.

The issue has been posted online, is being printed, and will mail soon. Full contents are now available online to SSAR members at https://ssarherps.org/herpetological-review-pdfs/. Natural History Notes, Geographic Distribution Notes, and Book Reviews are Open Access and are available for download at the same link. If you are not a member of SSAR, please consider joining the leading international herpetological society. Student and online-only rates available. Follow the “Join SSAR” link on the home page. Congratulations to Jari for a great cover image!

 

We hope you are planning to attend JMIH 2022 in Spokane, Washington (July 27-31).  Please follow this link for the registration form: https://burkclients.com/JMIH/meetings/2022/registration/start.php. Early registration ends June 21.  Below is a link to the meeting website that provides information about travel, accommodations, code of conduct, etc.   We encourage you to stay at the Davenport Hotel, as we are trying to meet our room block.  This significantly reduces costs to the societies (and thus the members) for meeting rooms, services, etc, as well as keeping you in the same building as the meeting itself.  You will see that there is a sizeable registration discount for students and professionals if you do choose to stay at the Davenport. And keep in mind that abstract submission is currently open: https://burkclients.com/JMIH/meetings/2022/site/abstracts.html. On this page, click the blue button to the right to submit. The deadline for abstracts is March 31. Finally, there are travel awards for students and postdocs to attend the meeting, and students can register for award competitions occurring during the meeting. Please follow this link to SSAR’s awards: https://ssarherps.org/ssar-awards/ . If you have any questions, please contact our SSAR rep on the Meeting Management and Planning Committee, Allyson Fenwick: afenwick@uco.edu Meeting Website: https://burkclients.com/JMIH/meetings/2022/site/

After a multi-year hiatus, we announce that a new Names List committee is being formed and will resume work on the list. Notable changes include clarification and transparency of guidelines to be published with each revision, term limits to be established for all positions, and a shortening of the timeline for publishing revisions (so appearing more frequently than previously). The list will not be printed in future, but pdfs of each new version will be freely available on our website. We will investigate options for upgrading and improving the online database as well as implementing a mechanism for hosting comments to future revisions. If you are interested in participating in the committee’s work please contact SSAR President Kirsten E. Nicholson (kirsten.nicholson@cmich.edu) who will be chairing the committee temporarily to guide the relaunch and work with the committee to establish the new procedures.