Paul Smith's College seminar highlights salamander conservation

PAUL SMITHS, NY (10/27/2014)(readMedia)-- An expert on amphibian and reptile conservation will give a talk Friday, Oct. 31, at Paul Smith's College.

Valorie Titus, assistant professor of natural resource management at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vt., will speak at 10:10 a.m. in the Freer Auditorium. Her talk is titled "The Importance of Forest Habitat Connectivity for Species of Ambystomid Salamanders, Focusing on the Eastern Tiger Salamander."

Titus earned a doctorate in biology from Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y., and a master's in biology from Murray State University in Murray, Ky. She has worked with a wide range of North American and exotic reptile and amphibian species, including tiger salamanders, box turtles, snapping turtles and copperhead snakes. Her research focuses on conservation and the effects of land use changes on amphibian and reptile populations.

One more presentations will follow this semester:

On Friday, Nov. 7, Ross Whaley, the senior advisor to the Adirondack Landowners Association and former president of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry will give a talk titled "Science and Resource Management Meet the Real World."

All seminars take place from 10:10-11 a.m. in the Freer Auditorium. They are free and open to the public.

For the past eight years, Paul Smith's College has hosted a different fisheries and wildlife professional each month as part of the series, which is sponsored by the fisheries and wildlife science program.

ABOUT PAUL SMITH'S COLLEGE

At Paul Smith's College, it's about the experience. Paul Smith's, which was founded in 1946, is the only bachelor's degree-granting institution of higher education in the Adirondacks. Our programs – in fields including hospitality, culinary arts, forestry, natural resources and the sciences – draw on industries and resources available in our own backyard while preparing students for successful careers anywhere. For more information: www.paulsmiths.edu.