This week, we hear from George Lynn Cross Research Professor and Curator Emeritus, Dr. Laurie J. Vitt: I was Curator of Reptiles at the Sam Noble Museum and Professor in the OU Biology Department for 21 years, following eight years as Professor of Biology at UCLA. I am currently Curator and Professor Emeritus after retiring in 2011. Much of my more recent research has focused...

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...

Oklahoma is home to some of the weirdest weather in the US!  During the last week of January 2015, we broke state records for the warmest day (78 degrees) in January that had been held since the late 1890’s!  When the weather is that nice, it is time to take a quick herping trip out in the field.  This trip was great practice for...

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...

Being here for four months now at the Siler Lab is not all fun: I am learning many exciting and new things at work. I managed to make very good progress on the things I needed to get done (writing papers and learning new skillsets). It is a great experience for me to be able to do all these things, and that my...

It has been an exciting week in the Siler Lab, especially with today’s announcement that we have received a Conservation Action Now (CAN) grant from the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Gardens.  This project involves working actively with the Oklahoma City Zoo to sample in central Oklahoma, including adjacent to zoo property.  A wonderful opportunity to develop new biodiversity conservation initiatives with such...

The Siler Lab is excited to announce a recent grant funded through the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) entitled “Tracking the emergence of infectious disease among amphibian species of greatest conservation need—Amphibian surveys of Wildlife Management Areas in Oklahoma to determine current distribution, status, and health of native communities.” This research will become the very first comprehensive, statewide assessment of the...

Upon researching what “Boomer Sooner” actually means, my mind wondered how boomers and sooners have actually made their way settling in and after, during the “Land Run of 1889.” This was the period when settlers could claim 160 acres of public land by way of a race, to claim that land. A boomer is a settler during that time who believed that...

This past Friday, October 24th, Cameron, Jessa, Elyse, Nick, Alyssa and I took a short trip to Oliver’s Woods to look for herps. The nature area is located at the intersection of Highway 9 and Chautauqua and is owned by the University of Oklahoma. We spent around an hour and a half overturning logs, watching for movement in the fallen leaves, and wandering...

Five members of the Siler Lab (Elyse Freitas, Greg Jongsma, Alyssa Anwar, Tucker Walton, and Rachel Flanagan) attended Oklahoma’s BioBlitz! 2014 at Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, Black Kettle National Grasslands, and the City of Cheyenne Park.  They were joined by a few hundred other members of OU, other universities, and the general public.  Check out more info here. Read a first-hand...