Our final webinar in the AM&RC series will consider conservation approaches needed to protect the critical habitat needed by pool-breeding amphibians. First, we’ll learn about a recent study that investigated vernal pools across New York State. Dr. Matt Schlesinger will share key findings from that study, including indicators of vernal pool significance for conservation of amphibian biodiversity at local and landscape scales. We’ll then hear from Dr. Aram Calhoun about a new, locally driven, voluntary vernal pool mitigation tool called the Maine Vernal Pool Special Area Management Plan (or SAMP) currently adopted by two Maine towns.

Register here.

Information on the full series can be found here.

Speaker Bios 

Dr. Matt Schlesinger is Chief Zoologist at the New York Natural Heritage Program, where he oversees wildlife conservation and inventory projects ranging from beetles to birds to baleen whales. He helped describe a new species of leopard frog along the Atlantic Coast, oversaw statewide surveys for rare tiger beetles, co-authored the New York Dragonfly and Damselfly Survey, modeled habitat connectivity and responses to climate change of a variety of animal species, and helped design a whale monitoring effort for the New York Bight. Most recently, he led an EPA-funded study of vernal pools in New York State.

Dr. Aram Calhoun is Professor Emerita of Wetlands Ecology at University of Maine’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology. Her research interests include vernal pool ecology and conservation and wetland policy at all levels of government, and her work stresses the importance of conserving natural resources (wetlands and vernal pools) and/or target species (wood frogs, spotted salamanders, and blue-spotted salamanders) on private lands by addressing both human and ecological dimensions. She maintains a website called Of Pools and People which is rich in information on ecology and conservation of vernal pools and provides resource materials for local entities interested in local vernal pool initiatives.