#PhD Candidate at Virginia Tech studying salamanders • #Science Director for @oriannesociety • Reptile & amphibian #conservation • World Traveler • #Hokie4life
Blacksburg, VA
Joined May 2017
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Who would have thought you can detect snake DNA in sand?
We started a new project, investigating the possibility of environmental DNA as a means of detecting indigo snakes in the field. In Fieldnotes, Ben gives describes how we’ll test our results against other indigo snake survey methods.
Watch Fieldnotes:
oriannesociety.org/fieldnote…
Excited to continue working on spotted turtle conservation!
This spring our Science Initiative will begin working on a new project aimed at addressing key challenges to #SpottedTurtle #conservation in the southeastern U.S. This effort is being funded by a $1,000,000 Competitive State Wildlife Grant that was awarded last year.
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Herpetology job!
Join our team as an Associate Conservation Scientist!
Seeking a passionate individual to work on research projects in the southeastern U.S. Your expertise will be pivotal in designing and executing projects for Spotted and Eastern Box Turtle conservation.
oriannesociety.org/careers/
Had a great time at #JMIH23. Got to talk to a lot of people about flatwoods salamander conservation.
Absolute dinosaur caught on our Herpetology field trip today. Students were really excited to see a snapping #turtle this big up close. Cool to have an animal like this thriving on the @virginia_tech campus. @vt_cnre
Had a great time at #SEPARC2023. Nice to see so many friends and hear all about the great conservation work happening in the southeast.
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Well I’ve gotten down to 6 minutes and now trying to decide what I can take out and still tell a coherent story 😭
Working on my #SEPARC2023 talk this morning and getting a full research talk down to 5 minutes is not at all practical. Takes 5 minutes to just introduce the study.
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Working on my #SEPARC2023 talk this morning and getting a full research talk down to 5 minutes is not at all practical. Takes 5 minutes to just introduce the study.
We are hiring! #job
The Orianne Society is looking to hire a seasonal technician to work on a sandhill #snake #research project in southern Georgia!
The primary research focus is on Georgia populations of Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes, see website for more details:
oriannesociety.org/careers/
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Look at this big boy!
#IndigoSnake surveys are well underway, and our first snake of the year was an indigo! This large male was the first indigo recorded on this property after 3 years of surveying. We also came across a shed from a female proving the existence of at least one other individual here.
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It is a great collection that we have donated a lot of specimens to over the years. I also used some of the old flatwoods salamander specimens for part of my PhD project.
We have approximately 36,000 specimens of #reptiles and #amphibians just waiting for a researcher to pose a question. Come visit or check us out on @VertNetOrg.
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A ton of work from a lot of great biologists went into making this conservation plan for spotted turtles.
The Orianne Society has been working on Spotted Turtle conservation projects for almost 10 yrs; a large portion of this has been part of a large, multi-state effort to create a conservation plan for Spotted Turtle populations in the eastern U.S. Read more: oriannesociety.org/science-o…
We are looking for any and all eastern diamondback observations!
A rare chance to work with indigo snakes! Great opportunity for someone looking for seasonal positions.
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Are you a grad student going research on #reptiles and #amphibians in the southeast? We are currently accepting applications for our small #grant program!
We are accepting applications for our small grant program! We are looking to fund graduate student research projects focusing on reptile or amphibian conservation or management in the southeastern US. The deadline to apply is by 5pm on Nov 11th! Go to: oriannesociety.org/science-i…
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Check out some of the recent work I did with flatwoods #salamander specimens! I counted 100s of eggs from gravid specimens to generate data about clutch size and body size. That type of data is essentially unobtainable from wild populations.
#Flatwoodssalamanders are difficult to study as they spend most of their lives underground. How can we learn more about their reproduction? Houston tells us about one of the challenges studying this endangered species in #ScienceofScales:
oriannesociety.org/science-o…
Check out our latest paper from ongoing eastern indigo #snake projects. We modeled range-wide connectivity and delineated conservation units based on the results of a habitat model. The results of this work will be critical for ongoing conservation planning for indigo snakes.
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Spent most of the day yesterday counting eggs in 50 year old flatwoods #salamander specimens that were on loan from @HerpGSU. Although tedious, this work doubled the total number of datapoints available to relate female body size to clutch size.
