Club members are tickled by the study of reptiles and amphibians

Sera Galvin, 17, center, and Sara Busche, 16, both of South Kortright Central School, near Oneonta, attend an educational program of the Cornell Herpetology Society, Nov. 14, in the Whittaker Room of Corson-Mudd Hall. Cornell sophomore Chris Jennings, right, a member of the herp club, tells the students about the small ball python Galvin is holding. Charles Harrington/University Photography

By Sheezan Bakali '01

In the spring of 1997, the Section of Ecology and Systematics was looking at candidates for an assistant professorship. Among the requirements were a concentration in vertebrate biology and an interest in herpetology -- and there also was a request that they interview with a group of students.

"The students came in and read each candidate's file, they took them out in the field, they went to dinner with them and they interviewed them," said Vice Provost Kraig Adler, professor of neurobiology and behavior. "I would actually say they interrogated them. They didn't miss a trick."

The students took their subject -- herpetology -- seriously and wanted to make sure the new faculty member would take them seriously, too. Fittingly, they were members of the Cornell Herpetological Society, known as the "herp club," a group of about 65 students, mostly undergraduates, who are devoted to the study of reptiles and amphibians. The group is funded by the Student Assembly Finance Commission. Members represent a variety of majors on campus, from natural resources and animal sciences to physics and urban studies.

"But it is a scientifically oriented club," said Adler, who has been the herp club adviser for the past six years. "It's not just a bunch of people who have reptiles or amphibians as pets."

One of Adler's students in ecology and systematics, Mike Benard, was a sophomore when he helped interview the prospective faculty candidates.

"We had a great time. Luckily, the one we really pushed for is the candidate the section chose," Benard said.

Benard is a senior now and president of the club, and like a lot of the other members, he has had a passion for the animals since he was a young boy, wading in ponds and collecting handfuls of tadpoles.

"When I was in second or third grade, I used to bring home all kinds of things. I think just watching them hop around fascinated me," he said.

Cornell has been recognized as having among the finest herpetology programs in the country by Reptiles Magazine. And the students in the club, Adler said, "are the cream of the crop."

Looking at a picture of undergraduates on a past club trip, Adler points out each student and rattles off their achievements: "He's now a second year vet student ... first year vet student ... Ph.D. student at Washington University ... graduate student at University of Hawaii ... graduate student at Cal-Berkeley..."

"A lot of these students join the club as freshmen, and it's a real motivator. Undergraduates give talks about their research projects as a way of letting younger students know what the older students are doing. It's a bit of an advertisement so they know that they too can be doing something like this in a few years," he said.

In fact, Adler said he highly recommends the many clubs across campus, like the herp club, that give students an introduction to various fields of study as well as close interaction with other students and faculty who share their interests.

Projects in progress among members of the herp club include studies on the absence of amphibians in polluted areas of the world and research on foraging behavior of tadpoles during periods of environmental stress.

"The (worldwide) amphibian population is crashing," Benard explained. "Because amphibians are really tied to water systems -- they absorb water through their skin -- it makes them susceptible to environmental pollutants."

The students' extensive knowledge has made them popular with professionals in the field. The group has been invited to take behind-the-scenes tours at museums, research labs and at reptile houses of zoos from Toronto to Philadelphia.

Speakers from universities across the country visit the club to make presentations three times a semester.

In October, the club had Professor David Holtzman of the University of Rochester talk on orientation and spatial learning in snakes; and Steve Morreale, a graduate student in natural resources with the Cornell Center for the Environment, spoke on his research specialty, sea turtles, on Nov. 23.

"We always go to The Chariot for pizza with the speaker afterwards," said herp club treasurer Chris Jennings '01. "They keep this old anatomy snake head there that they bring out and put on the table when we come, kind of as our figurehead. We get a few weird looks, usually."

People have many misconceptions about amphibians and reptiles, and club members -- who Benard calls "hard-core herpers" -- are working to dispel those myths. The club offers presentations at the college level, teaching veterinary students the proper care of captive animals, for instance.

And recently, with the Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers, members hosted a group of local high school students on campus, conducting a short course covering the major reptile/amphibian sensory systems: chemoreceptive, visual (including heat-sensing), auditory and tactile.

Club members also visit elementary schools, where they usually bring along a few live specimens.

"You know kids, they think snakes are the greatest," said Adler. "They are in second or third grade, normally screaming and climbing the walls. But when there's a snake in the room, they are so quiet and attentive. You could hear a pin drop. Teachers love it when we come."