Calling All 'Bama Environmental Educators

As part of a collaborative partnership with Legacy Partners in Environmental Education and the University of Alabama, ALAPARC is actively looking for partners for the Alabama Amphibian Network, a statewide citizen science/outreach project. In a nutshell, we're looking for environmental education centers willing to participate in the network by having coverboard arrays and treefrog shelters installed at each center. These are tools used by practicing herpetologists to sample amphibians and will be free for use in amphibian education programs (for a detailed description of the equipment and a similar project, go here). In addition to the coverboards and shelters, we'll provide each center with valuable curriculum materials discussing basic amphibian biology, ecology, and evolution. All we ask in turn is that each EE partner keep a record of animals found during educational programs and report them to the network quarterly. All of these materials and their installation, of course, will be provided completely free of charge.

This project is aimed at two goals: 1.) increasing amphibian outreach and education for all demographic groups across the state, and 2.) gaining a better understanding of amphibian distributions and population trends in Alabama. As an EE center, you get a valuable education tool, and we, as researchers, get valuable data on Alabama's amphibians. Our partners to date include: Camp McDowell Environmental Center, Little River Canyon/JSU Field Schools, and Turtle Point Science Center. We'd love to get as many centers as we can signed on!

If you're interested or have any questions whatsoever, feel free to email Wally Smith at whsmith1@crimson.ua.edu

Website Manager and Newsletter Editor Positions Filled

Everyone should welcome David and Laura Laurencio of Auburn University to the Alabama Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation team. Both have extensive experience finding and researching herps from the southeastern U.S. through Central America. David and Laura have taken the reins of our website and our newsletter. We look forward to upcoming updates to our website which promise a wealth of new material and information. The newsletter will also be a useful means of disseminating information to our membership, which is growing daily.


Thanks are due to Mark and Karan Bailey for getting the ball rolling on the website and configuring it to accept our meeting registration.

Abstracts Rolling In

Hi all,

As we noted in a previous post, we've already issued a call for abstracts for our inaugural meeting and they are rolling in. We only have a limited amount of space for submitted talks and we are confirming them more or less as they arrive, so submit yours soon. We may encourage you to present a poster depending on how our agenda develops. Send your abstracts to AlabamaPARC@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing your presentation this fall.