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Welcome...
to
the 2nd Alaska Amphibian Conference.
Dates: February 10th
and 11th, 2006
Location:
University of Alaska Southeast Egan Library Lecture Hall, Juneau
This conference will feature
information exchange and networking through presentations, featured speakers,
discussion panels, informal dialogue, and posters for professionals working
with, and managing, Alaska’s wild
amphibians. Agency personnel, students,
scientists, and naturalists are invited to share information on Alaska's unique
herpefauna. The two-day workshop will provide ample time to present findings,
discuss plans, meet new colleagues with similar interests, and ultimately,
help to shed light on the little-known amphibian herpetofauna of Alaska.
The
conference is timed to follow immediately after the 11th Alaska
Bird Conference, which will be held February 7-9 in Juneau.
We encourage you to visit the Alaska Bird Conference
website, as it may include sessions or talks of interest to attendees of
the Alaska Amphibian Conference. Most
notably, David Quammen will give a lecture open to the public on the evening
of February 10th.
Topics
Include: Amphibian physiology, genetics, population dynamics,
biogeography, malformations, contaminants, habitat protection & species
at risk, and information gaps, among others.
Conference
Proceedings will be
compiled following the Conference.
Agenda
Download detailed agenda
(pdf)
Friday,
February 10 (Egan Library
Lecture Hall)
Featured Speakers, Presentations, and Policy Updates
Posters on display throughout the day
Saturday,
February 11
(multiple locations)
Egan Library Lecture Hall: Technical
Workshops
Mendenhall
Glacier Visitor Center: Public Education (for children and adults)
Evening: Public Lecture
Program
Download program with
abstracts (pdf) 
Featured Speakers
Dr. Stephen Corn: Current and
future threats to amphibian populations
Dr. Michael Adams: Monitoring the
occupancy of ponds by frogs in relation to stressors: an ARMI example
Dr. Cynthia Carey: Worldwide
declines in amphibians, chytridiomycosis, and climate change
Stephen Corn is a zoologist with the Aldo Leopold Wilderness
Research Institute in Missoula,
Montana. He heads up the research team for the Rocky
Mountain Region of the Amphibian
Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI). Steve received his Ph.D. in 1982 from Colorado State University
where his dissertation focused on selection pressures affecting a dorsal
color polymorphism in leopard frogs (Rana
pipiens). He has been working on amphibians and amphibian decline since
about 1980. His current research projects include status and trends of Rocky Mountain amphibians, with investigations
into the effects of global change; long-term monitoring of populations;
effects of UV-B on amphibians; and geographic genetic variation in the Bufo boreas species complex. Steve has
been involved with the planning and implementation of the Amphibian Research
and Monitoring Initiative since 1998 and served at temporary detail as the
National Coordinator for ARMI at USGS headquarters in Reston, Virginia
in 2002. He is an editor for Herpetological Conservation, a member of the
Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and is an
affiliate faculty for Idaho State University
and the University
of Montana. Visit Dr. Corn's website for
more information about his research.
Michael Adams is a research ecologist with the USGS Forest
and Rangeland Ecosystem
Science Center
in Corvallis, Oregon.
He leads the Amphibian
Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) effort for the Pacific
Northwest Region. Mike received his
Ph.D. from the University
of Washington in
1997. His research focuses on the role
of global change in amphibian decline and the conservation of freshwater
systems. More specifically, his lab addresses issues such as invasive
species, increases in ultraviolet radiation, land use change, and long-term
monitoring design for amphibians in North America,
using a combination of comparative surveys and manipulative experiments to
understand the factors affecting amphibian distribution and abundance. Visit Dr. Adam's website
for more information about his research.
Cynthia Carey is a professor in the Department of Integrative
Physiology at the University of Colorado
at Boulder. Cindy received her
Ph.D. from the University
of Michigan. Her research concerns physiological and
behavioral adaptations of animals to harsh environments, such as deserts,
high altitudes, and cold climates. In
addition, she studies world-wide declines in amphibian populations, including
the interaction of pathogens and amphibian immune systems and the possible
interaction of co-factors, such as UVB, climate change, heavy metals, and pH,
on the success of pathogens in killing amphibians. She directs the Ecophysiology
Laboratory at CU. Visit Dr. Carey's website
for more information about her research.
Call
for Abstracts
Download abstract
guidelines (pdf)
Abstract Titles Due: December 16, 2005
Full Abstracts Due: January 16, 2006
Send Abstracts to David Tessler via e-mail.
Oral Presentations
Presentation Format: 10-30 minutes
including questions.
Posters
Poster Session Format: Informal
Posters Due: At the
start of the first day of the conference. They will be posted at the start of
the event and available for viewing until noon Saturday.
Workshops
Three technical
workshops will be held on the second day of the conference (Saturday,
February 11). See detailed
agenda for times and locations.
Workshop 1. Monitoring: Response Variables, Statistical
Inference, and Methods. This workshop will highlight elements of
monitoring strategies and serve as a forum to discuss cooperative,
interagency framework for monitoring the most common amphibians in Alaska. Moderators: Dr. Mike Adams and David
Tessler
Workshop 2. Environmental Stressors to Consider in Alaska.
This workshop will focus on developing interagency strategies for
monitoring relevant stressors and their potential impacts on amphibian
populations across the state.
Moderators: Drs. Steve Corn and Sanjay Pyare
Workshop 3. Monitoring Chytrid Fungus & Malformations.
This workshop will cover sampling for chytrid fungus and amphibian
malformations, with the goal of coordinating sampling and monitoring
protocols across the state for both chytrid and malformations. Moderators: Dr. Cynthia Carey and Mary
Reeves
Public Education
There will be
public events for children and adults on Saturday, February 11 at the Mendenhall
Glacier Visitor Center. A variety
of children's activity stations relating to amphibians will be available from
10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The following
presentations, suitable for all ages, are also scheduled:
1:30pm-2:00pm "Tlingit Frog Stories" told by Lily
Hudson.
2:00pm-3:00pm “Juneau’s Frogs, Toads, and
Salamanders”, Bob Armstrong, Discovery Southeast.
3:00pm-4:00pm "Where does the water go? How pollutants get in water and why frogs
care", Mari Reeves, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Don’t
miss the public lecture by David
Quammen at the Alaska Bird Conference at 7:30 pm Friday, February 10 in
the University
of Alaska Southeast Egan Library.
Registration
Thanks to our
agency sponsors, there is no registration fee for this conference. However, there is
a limited amount of seating. Please
email the Conference Registrar
(temporary email address) if you are planning to attend so we can save a spot
for you. Once you register, we will
make sure you receive updates about the conference as it approaches.
Travel
and Lodging
For travel to Juneau, please see travel
information at the Alaska Bird Conference website.
Unlike
the Bird Conference, which will be downtown, the Amphibian Conference will be
held at two locations in the Mendenhall
Valley, approximately ten miles
north of downtown Juneau
but near both the airport and the ferry terminal. You will probably find it most convenient
to stay in a hotel or bed and breakfast near the airport. Many Juneau
hotels provide shuttle for their guests, but be sure to check if that is
important to you. A searchable
database of Juneau-area lodgings can be found here.
Download maps of the University of Alaska
Southeast, the main conference venue.
City
buses run between downtown Juneau and the University of Alaska Southeast, stopping midway at the
Mendenhall Mall near the airport. View
route maps and download bus schedules at the Capital Transit website.
Check
back later for information about conference shuttles between the airport-area
hotels and the conference site.
Contacts for more information:
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Tracey Gotthardt
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Alaska Natural Heritage
Program
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antg @ uaa.alaska.edu
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(907)257-2782
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Sanjay Pyare
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University of Alaska Southeast
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sanjay.pyare @ uas.alaska.edu
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(907)796-6007
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Lance Lerum
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US Forest Service
Tongass National Forest
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llerum @ fs.fed.us
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(907)790-7479
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Deb Rudis
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US Fish & Wildlife Service, Juneau
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deborah_rudis @ fws.gov
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(907)780-1183
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Dave Tessler
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Alaska Department of Fish & Game Nongame Program
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david_tessler @ fishgame.state.ak.us
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(907)267-2332
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Mari Reeves
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US Fish & Wildlife Service, Anchorage
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mari_reeves @ fws.gov
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(907)271-2785
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