THE MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY Volume 20 Number 7
luly 2000 Newsletter
Upcoming Meeting The Vice-presidetlt's Report By Totty Gamble June General Meeting Program: "Frogs in the Curriculum: A K-12 Example" Guest Speaker: Tony Murphy Children have a close relationship with frogs. In Minnesota, this was highlighted when shldents found large numbers of maUormed frogs near Henderson in 1995. Scientists had already found some malfonned frogs in the state, but the frogs discovered by these students, in large numbers, caught the media's attention. From this, the Thousand Friends of Frogs
program was oom. This program, based at Hamline University, is active in many aspects of amphibian education and research. During the last year, for example, citizens from all over Minnesota were involved in monitoring amphibian populations. Malfomled frogs were reported from 19 counties in the state. This infomlation is passed on to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and is very useful in helping them locate and discover the causes of malfonnations. Over 100 volunteers were also involved in surveying frog populations using calling surveys. Participants are assigned pre-selected routes and conduct listening surveys during the evening between r.,路fay and July. This is part of a larger nationwide monitoring effort to detennine frog population levels. This survey is conducted in association with the Department of Natural Resources NonGame division.
The Thousand Friends of Frogs program continues to work with the WISE (Web Integrated Science Education) Project and the Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARq. They are also working with the Minneapolis College of Art and Design to develop educational computer games to teach children about the challenges facing amphibians. A very successful meeting was held this year with teachers on the development of educational products for the classroom on amphibians, particularly frogs.
Are you an educator? Do you participate in IIhands-on"? Are you interested in how the internet and other media can influence the public's attitude towards herps? Are you intrigued by our native herpetofauna? This program caters to all that and more. For additional infonnation, check out the project's web page at: htl p: II CI'Pt'. h,mllilll'.pdu/ (r~
Upcoming meetings: The major focus of the Minnesota Herpetological Society is education. With this in mind comes our August speaker, education expert;. Tony Murphy. Dr. Murphy is director of the TIlOusand Friends of Frogs and has been involved in environmental and science education for the last fifteen years. Before coming to Hamline, he was involved with the GLOBE program, an international environmental monitoring program based on the internet.
GECKOS
Sept 8, 2000 - Dr. Fred Janzen "Sexdetermining Mechanisms in Reptiles" Oct 6, 2000 - Dr. Robert Powell "Adventures in the Caribbean: Herpetology on Tropical Islands." Nov 3, 2000 - Dan Keyler and Jim Gerholdt "Herpin' New Mexico/ part deux" January 5, 2001 Minnesota Breeders March 2, 2001 - Phil Tremper "Breeding Rare Geckos"
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