SOUTH CAROLINA HERPETOLOGY CONFERENCE

SCHEDULE OF TALKS

DATE: SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2007

PLACE: NDOKI LODGE

RIVERBANKS ZOO

COLUMBIA, SC

* Admission to the Zoo will be free for Conference Attendees. Come to the main entrance and tell the cashier/security guard you are attending the herpetology conference. You can get directions to Ndoki Lodge at this point.

REGISTRATION FEE $10 - Make check payable to SC Herpetology Conference (the registration fee is waived for conference speakers)

SCHEDULE:

9:00 – 9:30 AM Registration and Welcome

9:30 - 10:00 AM Spatial Ecology of the Agkistrodon Complex in the

Coastal Plain of South Carolina: Josh Castleberry, USC

10:00 – 10:30 AM Daily energy expenditure in free-ranging gopher tortoises: first measures and a comparison with other chelonians: Patrick Jodice, Clemson/USGS (presenter) and Deb Epperson, TNC

10:30 – 11:00 AM Break

11:00 – 11:30 AM South Carolina Amphibian Monitoring Program –

Starting in 2008?: Linda Weir, USGS-Patuxent Wildlife

Research Center

11:30 – 12:00 AM "What is causing a decline in diamondback terrapins

(Malaclemys terrapin) in South Carolina and what can we

do about it?": Mike Dorcas, Davidson College

12:00-1:30 PM Lunch – on your own

1:30 – 1:45 PM Update on SC's Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan

and Legislative issues: Steve Bennett, SCDNR

1:45 – 2:15 PM “Last night we found a Copperhead in our bathroom” and

other public issues relating to operating a herp-related,

educational website: Gene Ott, S.C. Reptiles and

Amphibians Webpage

2:15 – 2:45 PM The Carolina Herp Atlas: Steven Price, Davidson College

2:45 – 3:15 PM “What reptiles and amphibians can teach us about how limb

bones work”: Richard Blob, Clemson University

3:15 – 3:45 PM Using stable isotopes to investigate snake ecology and

physiology. Melissa Pilgrim, USC Upstate/ SREL

3:45 Closing Remarks

Tour the Zoo

Notes: The location for the Conference, Ndoki Lodge can accommodate a larger crowd with additional room for posters and tables. We will be making 10 tables available (free of charge) for groups/organizations that want to display information about their programs etc. The tables will be available on a first come-first serve basis, so if you want a table let me know ASAP!

Note to Presenters:

We will have PowerPoint Equipment set up for the Conference as the primary AV source. If you need a slide projector please let me know. We have allotted 30 minutes for each talk, what would be great would be a 25 minute talk with about 5 minutes for questions.

The order of talks was chosen randomly, with some consideration given to folks with time constraints. If the timing of your talk poses a problem please let me know and I will try to accommodate your needs.

Any Questions/Suggestions Please contact:

Steve Bennett

SCDNR

803-734-3930

BennettS@dnr.sc.gov

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES:

Josh Castleberry

Josh graduated with B.S. in Biology from the University of South Carolina in 2001. He immediately entered the workforce as a high school teacher at Sumter High. After earning his teaching certificate through a critical needs program, Josh began his Master's program in Earth and Environmental Resources Management while continuing to work at the highschool. He graduated in December of 2006 with the Thesis that you are about to see. He is currently teaching the Environmental Technology Program at Central Carolina Technical College. He lives in Sumter with his wife, Cassie, and his two future naturalists Samara and Wesley.

Patrick Jodice

Patrick Jodice is the Leader of the USGS South Carolina Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at Clemson University and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources there. He received his PhD and Post Doc'ed at Oregon State university (2006 College World Series Champs), his MS at the University of Florida (2006 & 2007 NCAA Men's basketball champs, 2006 BCS Champs), and his BS at the Univ. of Maine (2006 and 2007 appearances in Men's Frozen Four Hockey Championships).  His current research includes projects in physiological ecology of wildlife, avian conservation and ecology, and wildife habitat ecology. He is not a herpetologist by any stretch of the imagination so please don't ask any difficult herp questions!

Linda Weir

Linda Weir is a wildlife biologist with the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland.  She received her B.A. in Zoology from the State University of New York at Oswego and M.S. in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland.  Her interests include amphibian monitoring and distributions.  She is the USGS coordinator for the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP, website: www.pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp).  She also maintains the National Atlas of Amphibian Distributions (website: www.pwrc.usgs.gov/armiatlas).

Mike Dorcas

Mike Dorcas is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Davidson College, Davidson, NC. He received a B.S. (1986) and M.S. (1990) from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Ph.D. from Idaho State University in 1995. Mike was awarded the 2004 Environmental Educator of the Year in North Carolina by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation. Mike’s research program focuses on the physiology, ecology, and conservation of amphibians and reptiles. His research program is interdisciplinary in nature and relies heavily on collaboration with students. Mike has published several book chapters and over 60 articles on the biology of amphibians and reptiles, the most recent of which include students as coauthors. His recent books include, A Guide to the Snakes of North Carolina, Davidson College, and Snakes of the Southeast (with J. Whitfield Gibbons), University of Georgia Press.

Gene Ott

Edwin Eugene (Gene) Ott is an engineer, futurist, planner, inventor, scientist, philosopher, amateur herpetologist, writer, and nature photographer. He has an MS degree in Environmental Systems Engineering (Clemson University, 1972) and a BS in Physics (U. of South Carolina, 1967).

For most of his career, Gene has practiced consulting engineering in the environmental arena. He has worked in controlling pollution to the air, water, and earth. Previously, he worked for the State of South Carolina developing and implementing statewide programs for managing the construction of publicly-owned wastewater treatment facilities and development of river basin and areawide water quality management plans. In his early career, he performed research in the United States Air Force concerning fuel fire and explosion suppression in aircraft fuel tanks under flight conditions. His research was often cited in the investigation of the 1996 crash of TWA flight 800 for which the probable cause was found to be an explosion in a fuel tank.

Gene is a native of the South Carolina Piedmont where he lives today. He developed a love of nature as a child and has continued it throughout his life. In 1995 he began posting pictures of reptiles that he had recently found. In the succeeding years, the site grew into the popular “South Carolina Reptiles and Amphibians” (www.snakesandfrogs.com) site of today. The site typically receives 2 to 5 thousand visitors each day. Through his website, he spreads education about these creatures and helps many concerned persons identify the species encountered.

Steven Price

Steve Price began working at Davidson College in May 2004 after receiving his M.S. degree in Environmental Science from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. His research interests center around reptile and amphibian conservation biology, landscape ecology and population biology. Currently, Steve is participating in several herp projects in the sprawling Charlotte Metropolitan area, including a landscape-scale experiment on the effects of urbanization on streams salamanders.

Richard Blob

Richard Blob joined the Department of Biological Sciences at Clemson University as an Assistant Professor in 2002, after a postdoctoral appointment at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.  He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Paleobiology, and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.  His research focuses on the functional anatomy of the vertebrate skeleton and muscular system, with particular interests in the locomotion of amphibians and reptiles.  His studies have examined groups including salamanders, frogs, turtles, lizards and alligators.

Melissa Pilgrim

Melissa Pilgrim is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of South Carolina Upstate. Her educational background includes obtaining a B.S. in Biology from Stetson University (1993), a M.S. in Biology from Southeastern Louisiana University (2001), and a Ph.D. from University of Arkansas (2005). She worked as a post-doctoral associate at Savannah River Ecology Lab prior to accepting her current position with USC Upstate. Her primary research focus involves an integrative approach to investigating how individual animal responses to spatial and temporal variation in environmental variables impact population level processes. For example, her dissertation research used stable isotopes to investigate the impact of microgeographic variation in diet composition on life history and demography of 3 pigmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius) populations located in Central Florida.