VMN Continuing Education Webinar Series for February

Title: Appreciate, identify and participate in community science with Virginia’s salamanders!

Date/Time: February 27, 2024, 12:00-1:00 pm

Registration: Pre-registration required

Other information: VMN CE Webinars are always recorded and posted to the VMN CE Webinar page for anyone to access. There is no need to register for the webinar if you are not able to attend live, and you do not need to ask about the recording. Just check on the VMN CE page approximately two days after the webinar (two weeks for the version with edited captions.)

Description: This presentation is an opportunity to explore a group of organisms that have been coined “The hidden jewels of Appalachia'' –– salamanders! Although many are small and seldom seen, these wonders of nature come in a variety of beautiful colors and patterns. Perhaps even more striking than their unique beauty are the stories of how these small predators navigate streams, ponds, caves and mountains to hunt, reproduce, and persevere through environmental challenges. Salamanders worldwide are at risk from disease that attack their skin, the only organ many lungless salamanders use to breathe! Southwest Appalachia is home to most of the world’s lungless salamanders, and understanding disease risk to species from our region is important for preventing the loss of this incredible diversity in the future. This lecture will teach participants the basics of local salamander diversity and identification as well as introduce Project Cybermander: a community science opportunity. Project Cybermander contributors will learn to classify images collected from a real research initiative to in contribution to the analysis of a huge dataset (over 80,000 images!) that will ultimately help understand disease risk for our native species!

 

Presenters:

Dr. Arianna Kuhn, Assistant Curator of Herpetology at the Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH)

Dr. Natalie Claunch, Wildlife Biologist at the USDA APHIS Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center Florida Field Station