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9th Hellbender Symposium Schedule [PDF]
Monday, June 17
3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Registration & Check-In
5:00 – 5:45 Social/mixer – Live music by Chloé and Stewart Scales
5:45 – 6:00 Opening remarks
6:00 – 7:00 Keynote Address: Fifty-two years searching hollows, ridges, and rivers in West Virginia, Dr. Thomas Pauley, Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, Marshall University
7:00 – 9:30 Dinner & Keynote Reception – Live music by New Standard Bluegrass
Tuesday, June 18
9:00 – 9:10 Welcome & Logistics
9:10 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. SESSION I: SURVEYS, MOVEMENT, AND STATUS ASSESSMENTS
Moderator: Paul Hime, University of Kansas
9:10 – 9:30 The Bumpy Road to Recovery of the Eastern Hellbender in Ohio; Gregory Lipps, Ohio State University
9:30 – 9:50 Ongoing Restoration of an Eastern Hellbender Population in the Upper Susquehanna River Watershed; Michelle Herman (Grad), State University of New York
9:50 – 10:10 Spatial ecology of Hellbender Salamanders prior to translocation; Bradley Nissen (Grad), Tennessee State University
10:10 – 10:30 Behavioral analysis of electroshocked post-metamorphic juvenile Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi and subadult Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis; Stephanie Morrison (Grad), Missouri State University
10:30 – 10:50 Break
Moderator: William Hopkins, Virginia Tech
10:50 – 11:20 A Species Status Assessment and 12-month petition finding for the Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus a. alleganiensis); Jeromy Applegate, US Fish & Wildlife Service
11:20 – 12:00 Discussion: Species Status Assessment
12:00 – 1:20 Break for Lunch (on own)
1:20 – 2:40 p.m. SESSION II: JAPANESE GIANT SALAMANDER; PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Moderator: Mizuki Takahashi, Bucknell University
1:20 – 1:40 Long term comparison in the estimated population and the structure of Japanese giant salamander in Matsuzai stream, Kita-Hiroshima-Cho, Hiroshima, Japan; Yuki Taguchi, Asa Zoo, Hiroshima, Japan
1:40 – 2:00 Effectiveness of the giant salamander bypass slopes at small dams in a small tributary stream, Tottori Prefecture, western Honshu, Japan; Sumio Okada, Hanzaki Research Institute of Japan
2:00 – 2:20 Engaging North Carolina’s Trout Anglers and Other Stakeholders to Help Conserve Eastern Hellbenders; Lori Williams, NC Wildlife Resources Commission
2:20 – 2:40 Positive Perceptions About an Enigmatic Animal Follows the Conservation Biology Era: Content Analysis from 153 Years of Print and Online Media; Shem Unger, Wingate University
2:40 – 3:00 Break
Moderator: Rod Williams, Purdue University
3:00 – 5:00 EXHIBITION SESSION: Education & Outreach Materials
5:30 – 6:00 Poster presentation set-up
6:00 – 9:30 Dinner & Poster Session Reception; State Updates – Music DJ Bobby Parker
Wednesday, June 19
9:00 – 9:10 a.m. Welcome & Logistics
9:10 – 11:50 a.m. SESSION III: DISEASE AND PHYSIOLOGY
Moderator: Amy McMillan, SUNY Buffalo State
9:10 – 9:30 Associations between land cover and corticosterone profiles of free-ranging eastern and Ozark hellbenders from Missouri; Cathy Bodinof Jachowski, Clemson University
9:30 – 9:50 Neutrophil: lymphocyte ratios as a measure of chronic stress in populations of the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) across a habitat quality gradient; Allison Litmer (Grad),University of Arkansas
9:50 – 10:10 Assessing Presence and Concentration of Herbicides and Heavy Metals at Current and Historical Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) Sites; Jeronimo Silva, Tennessee State University
10:10 – 10:30 Captivity-induced changes in the skin microbial communities of hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis); Obed Hernandez-Gomez, University of California Berkeley
10:30 – 10:50 Break
10:50 – 11:10 Lesion Severity and Associated Skin Health Parameters in Endangered Ozark Hellbender; Rebecca Hardman (GRAD), University of Tennessee
11:10 – 11:30 Release of captive-raised Eastern hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) to test the success of a chytrid vaccine and cage release method; Megan Kocher (GRAD), Buffalo State College
11:30 – 11:50 Some Skin Secretions of Hellbender Salamanders: A Review; Max Nickerson, University of Florida
11:50 – 1:20 Break for Lunch (on own)
1:20 – 2:40 p.m. SESSION IV: ARTIFICIAL SHELTERS
Moderator: Lorie Stroup, USDA Forest Service
1:20 – 1:40 Use of Artificial Shelters (Nest Boxes) to Supplement Breeding Habitat for Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis); Jeff Briggler, Missouri Department of Conservation
1:40 – 2:00 Resiliency of Artificial Shelters to Dynamic Stream Conditions in North Carolina; Lauren Diaz (GRAD), Clemson University
2:00 – 2:20 Improving the efficacy of artificial shelters as tools for studying eastern hellbenders: lessons learned over 5+ years of shelter deployment; Sky Button (GRAD), Virginia Tech
2:20 – 2:40 Detection of Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) occupying artificial shelters using remote passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag scanning technology; Brian Case (GRAD),Virginia Tech
2:40 – 3:00 Break
Moderator: William Hopkins, Virginia Tech
3:00 – 5:00 EXHIBITION SESSION: Artificial Shelters
6:00 – 10:00 Dinner & Social; Best Graduate Student Platform Presentation Award – Live music by Clover Hollow
Thursday, June 20
8:55 – 9:00 a.m. Welcome
9:00 – 10:20 a.m. SESSION V: NON-INVASIVE MONITORING; CAPTIVE PROPAGATION
Moderator: Michael Freake, Lee University
9:00 – 9:20 Development of an Instream Tag Monitoring System for the Eastern Hellbender Salamander; Peter J. Petokas, Lycoming College
9:20 – 9:40 Site occupancy and concentrations of hellbender environmental DNA in a large river; Mizuki Takahashi, Bucknell University
9:40 – 10:00 A Review of a Long-Term Program to Develop Reproduction Technologies for Eastern Hellbenders (Crytopbrachus a. alleganiensis) at the Nashville Zoo; Sherri Reinsch, Nashville Zoo
10:00 – 10:20 Comparing the effects of environmental conditioning on survivorship of captive-reared hellbenders; Nick Burgmeier, Purdue University
10:20 – 10:40 Break
10:40 – 12:00 Follow-up Discussions and Planning for 10th Hellbender Symposium
12:00 p.m. Adjourn
1:00 – 6:00 Social & picnic on the New River[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow”][vc_column_text]
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
(Listed in alphabetical order by presenter; presenter underlined)
The Reproductive Ecology of the Recently Described Species of Leech (Placobdella appalachiensis) that Infects Eastern Hellbenders
Blumenthal1, W. Moser2, P. Marek3, C. Jachowski1, and W.A. Hopkins1
1. Dept of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, VA Tech; 2. Dept of Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution; 3. Dept of Entomology, VA Tech
Historical Relationship Between American Eel and Eastern Hellbender in the Upper Susquehanna Watershed
Boucher, S.E.1, Foster, R.L.1.
1. Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, Canisius College
Investigating Habitat Selection Patterns of Larval Eastern Hellbenders in the Southern Appalachians
Diaz, Lauren1, Catherine M. B. Jachowski1, Lori A. Williams2, Shem D. Unger3
1. Dept. of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University; 2. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission; 3. Carolina Headwaters LLC
Historical Insights on Conservation of the Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) in the Northeast
Foster, R.L.1,3, McMillan, A.M.2, and Larsen, C.P.S.3
1. Animal Behavior, Ecology and Conservation, Canisius College; 2. Biology Dept, SUNY Buffalo State; 3. Evolution, Ecology and Behavior Program, SUNY Buffalo
A proteomics approach to quantifying vitellogenin in the eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)
Frazier, C.F.1, Ray, W.K.1, Galligan, T.M.2, Case, B.F.2, Hopkins, W.A.2, Helm, R.F.1
1. Dept. of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech; 2. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech
Changes in circulating steroid hormone profiles before breeding in the eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)
Galligan, T.M.1, Helm, R.F.2, Case, B.F.1, Bodinof Jachowski, C.M.3, Frazier, C.L.2, and Hopkins, W.A.1
1. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech; 2. Dept. of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech; 3. Forestry and Environmental Conservation Department, Clemson University
Artificial shelters for juvenile and sub-adult hellbenders
Groffen, J.1and Hopkins, W.A.1
1. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
Are Cryptic Species Really Cryptic? Morphmetric Variation in Cryptobranchus
Hime, P.M.1
1. Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas
Chytrid and ranavirus prevalence in Eastern Hellbenders in Southeast Tennessee Streams
Nolan, Emily1, Brad Nissen1, Rebecca Hardman2, Michael Freake3, and Bill Sutton1
1. Tennessee State University, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd., Nashville, TN 37209; 2. University of Tennessee, Center for Wildlife Health, 2431 Joe Johnson Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996; 3. Lee University, Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, 1120 N. Ocoee St., Cleveland, TN 37311
Landowner Perspectives Regarding Science, Conservation, and the Eastern Hellbender
O’Brien, Rebecca1, Ashley Dayer1, and Bill Hopkins1
1. Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
Estimating allelic diversity through hellbender eDNA sampling
Spear, S.F.1, and Pelle, M.1
1. The Wilds
Detection of Japanese giant salamanders (Andrias japonicus) in first-order streams using environmental DNA
Bjordahl, B.1and Takahashi, M.K.1
1. Dept. of Biology, Bucknell University[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_message icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-question-circle-o”]Questions about the 2019 symposium? Please contact the Global Change Center coordinator at jcoker@vt.edu.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]