Скачать или смотреть Life in a Biodiversity Lab: Endangered Turtles and Using Poison Dart Frogs to Study Climate Change

Conservation of Endangered Turtles, and Poison Dart Frogs as Models to Study Global Climate Change


This is the third Life in a Biodiversity Lab talk by Dr. Scott McRobert. Dr. McRobert is a Professor of Biology at Saint Joseph's University. In a series of online tours and lectures for the Wagner Free Institute of Science, he shares the animals and research of the Biodiversity Lab at Saint Joseph’s University.

The rarest of the Biodiversity Lab's dozens of turtle species are involved in conservation groups known as Assurance Colonies, whose intent is to literally assure the survival of species in peril of extinction in the wild. Research on turtles involves analysis of the effects of environmental factors (such as pH, temperature, salinity) on the Diamondback Terrapin, a rare species found in coastal regions of the continental United States. These studies are linked to a Head-Start Program in which baby turtles are raised in captivity prior to release into the wild.

The Biodiversity Lab also houses many amphibian species, including colonies of poison dart frogs. These animals have been used in studies to show the potential effects of climate change on growth, development and survival on tropical amphibians.

About Dr. Scott McRobert:
Dr. McRobert's research focuses on animal behavior, ecology and conservation. His laboratory, known as the Biodiversity Lab, houses hundreds of turtles, representing dozens of species, many of which are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. He has published over 80 journal articles and his work has been profiled in Science, Nature, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and on 60 Minutes. Dr. McRobert is a guest speaker at the Wagner and one of our faculty partners in our GeoKidsLINKS program with Saint Joseph’s University. Prior to Saint Joseph’s University, Dr. McRobert served as a herpetologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences, and as a naturalist for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.