During our 5 week expedition across Gabon our team increased Gabon’s national amphibian collection by 67%. We contributed specimens from three previously unrepresented provinces in Gabon. In response to this massive influx of specimens, the Smithsonian Institute—who is currently managing Gabon’s national collection—flew us down to Gamba to help catalogue and reorganize the museum with its curator Elie Tobi. The museum in...

Siler Lab members (Jessa Watters, Nick Huron and Rachel Flanagan) were joined in the field in April 2015 by local  journalist Dan Bewley, creator of the blog Science is OK, through which he shares insights into scientific research occurring around Oklahoma.  While it was a little odd to be doing field work with a microphone stuck down the front of our waders...

The Siler Lab was in the field again last weekend and we saw/heard a fantastic frog chorus at a pond on the James Collins WMA in Latimer County, Oklahoma....

The Siler Lab has completed two trips to Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in SE Oklahoma in March, 2015; one with only 4 members of the Siler Lab and the second with members of Dr. Siler’s OU Herpetology course.  Check out the summary statistics below (Table 1) and the amazing compilation video created by a student in the Herpetology course.  The Siler Lab continues...

This past weekend, several members from the Herpetology Department went to SE Oklahoma. This was the first time a few of us had ever gone “herping.” On our first night out, we heard many Spring Peepers, Leopard frogs (Lithobates sphenocephalus), and Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates areolatus). Throughout the weekend, we caught numerous Bullfrog tadpoles (Lithobates catesbeianus), a Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer), a Brown Snake...

This week, we hear from Dr. Janalee P. Caldwell, Professor and Curator Emeritus I was Curator of Amphibians at the Sam Noble Museum and professor in the Biology Department at OU from 1990 to 2011.  My research focused on the ecology, behavior, and systematics of amphibians, particularly dendrobatid and aromobatid frogs.  In addition to curatorial duties, I was involved in designing museum exhibits, teaching undergraduates, and...

Last Friday, February 13, the Oklahoma weather was nice enough to allow us to take a scouting trip up to the Oklahoma City Zoo to check out the area we will be sampling as a part of our Conservation Action Now (CAN) grant. We met some of the herpetology staff and were brought behind-the-scenes to a wetland on the outskirts of zoo property where we...

The Siler Lab and the Herpetology Department of the Sam Noble Museum are once again sponsoring a school outreach program entitled Fantastic Frogs to educate Oklahoma students and teachers about local amphibians, through classroom activities that recreate frog calls (Grades K-5) or discoveries of amphibian adaptations and identifications (Grades 6-12).  All activities also include live animals! Save the Frogs Day (April 25, 2015) is...

In association with the recent Siler Lab grants from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Oklahoma City Zoo, an undergraduate researcher (Rachel Flanagan) has begun sampling for chytrid in historical museum specimens, dating as far back as the 1920’s. Museum specimens are being swabbed from all 23 Oklahoma counties that will be sampled during the next 3 years of funding.  Currently, Rachel...

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) With the generous support of the Office of the Vice President of Research, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program offers financial assistance for scholarly and creative projects under the mentorship of a faculty member.  Dozens of research projects are funded each year so that undergraduates may undertake ambitious and exciting research endeavors. This competitive program is open to...

Lasting thoughts Overall, my summer expedition to the eastern Philippines reinforced my strong believe that it is imperative for the research and conservation communities to emphasize the importance of the Philippine rainforest to such an amazing diversity of life. As reported by Conservation International, “this country is one of the few nations that is, in its entirety, both a biodiversity hotspot and...