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SBDN NewsJAMIE KRUSAC RECEIVES RECOGNITION AT THE 14th IBR CONFERENCE
From the Atlanta Constitution-Journal (092707) Two summers of surveying bats in national forests in South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee as a U.S. Forest Service and Southeastern Bat Diversity Network volunteer brought Durham Middle School eighth-grader Jamie Krusac recognition this summer at the 14th International Bat Research Conference in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The field work involved catching bats using very fine nets, identifying their species, age, weight, length and sex before releasing them. "Jamie was often up until 2 a.m or 3 a.m. during the field surveys," said his father, Dennis Krusac, endangered species specialist with the USDA Forest Service, southern region. Conference organizer Rodrigo Medellin said Jamie is the youngest person ever to present at the conference, Krusac said. End ACJ article Jamie presented a poster titled: "Batting through the Eyes of a Thirteen Year Old". DAVE SAGUEY'S SALAMANDERS STAR IN BBC SHOWOctober, 2006
Photo: Sir David Attenborough (center) shown with Joe Milanovich( ASU grad student), Dr.
Stan Trauth (ASU professor), David Saugey (USFS) and Betty Crump (USFS).
David A. Saugey of the United States Forest Service was conducting bat research when he
stumbled across an unusual nesting concentration of Western slimy salamanders
(
Plethodon albagula), on the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas. Saugey notified his friend and
colleague, herpetologist
Dr. Stanley Trauth, of Arkansas State University and Trauth
began a long-term study of the animals in 1999. Last year, the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) expressed interest in the site after ASU graduate student Malcolm
McCallum sent information in response to a call for input for a new series. The
five-segment program "Life in Cold Blood," scheduled to air in 2008, will explore the
lives of reptiles and amphibians. The BBC crew filmed the salamanders curled around their
eggs.
Sir David Attenborough, 80, is a well-known natural history specialist and has written
and narrated numerous programs for the BBC since the 1950s. Attenborough has received
many awards for his work and was knighted in 1985 as recognition for his contributions.
Dr. Stan Trauth is primary author of the definitive work on amphibians and reptiles of
Arkansas (
The Amphibians and Reptiles of Arkansas.
2004. University of Arkansas Press,
Fayetteville. S. E. Trauth, H. W. Robison, and M. V. Plummer). SBDN has established a Student Travel Award Program to provide one
student per year with financial assistance to attend the North American
Symposium on Bat Research (NASBR). If you are student working out of a University in the Southeastern United
States and are giving an oral presentation or a poster presentation, you
are qualified to apply for a student travel award from the Southeastern Bat
Diversity Network (SBDN). DEADLINE for 2006 IS SEPTEMBER 15. For more information,
download the .pdf. For any additional
information or questions, contact Susan Loeb
or Darren Miller darren.miller@weyerhaeuser.com Send applications to Susan Loeb via email (preferred) or snail mail. From Troy L. Best, President of the SBDN:
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network (SBDN) I am pleased
to announce that SBDN has secured funding to support a staff position to address issues of concern
regarding bats in the region. The
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has agreed to host
this full-time position, which is funded for 3 years. This position, known as "Bat Conservation
Director", will begin 1 November 2005. Mary Kay Clark has been hired to serve in the position.
Many of you already know Mary Kay from her previous work with the SBDN and as Curator of Mammals at
the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The Board of Directors of SBDN believes that it is desirable for the SBDN to extend its outreach
to work more closely and consistently with agency personnel and others to develop specific programs
to preserve diversity of bats in the southeastern United States. We look forward to hearing about
your needs and ideas and to working more closely with you. A portion of the annual meeting in
February 2006 will be devoted to more fully explaining the position and its objectives and to
receiving your input. To contact Mary Kay Clark:
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