The project has amassed 123,000 entries since its founding in 1994.

By Cedulie Benoit-Smith

When Jim Andrews began work on the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas in 1994, the goal was simple: collect information to help inform the decisions of the state committee deciding which species should be listed, and protected, as endangered. 

Thirty years later, the small project has amassed 123,000 entries as its collaborators celebrate three decades pulling together data on critters across the state.

Andrews, one of the first environmental studies graduates at the University of Vermont, was working as a middle school science teacher back in the 1980s. He wanted to return to fieldwork and found his way to the Vermont Reptile Amphibian Scientific Advisory Group, which gives guidance on reptiles and amphibians to the Vermont Endangered Species Committee. What would informally be called the Vermont Herp Atlas (from herpetology, the study of those kinds of animals) took shape in his work for the group, starting in 1994.

Andrews has chaired the advisory group since 1995. “At that time, we didn’t really even have a complete list of the reptiles and amphibians in Vermont, let alone relative abundance or distribution … We didn’t have the data that we needed to really back up the recommendations that we felt we needed to make,” he said.

Within a year of the advisory group putting together its first atlas, Andrews and other collaborators set out to distribute the document to schools and libraries. One was Shoreham Elementary School, where a then-fifth-grader named Kiley Briggs pored over his copy.

“When I got my printed 1995 atlas … I saw that there wasn’t very much from the town of Shoreham, where I lived,” said Briggs. “I thought, ‘Well, I could help change the map.’” 

Already an outdoorsy kid, he started filling out reports with what he saw, viewing the atlas as a collaborative science project. Years later while working as an intern for Andrews, Briggs came across an unverified record of a gray tree frog on a lawnmower in Shoreham that had been submitted by a familiar name: his. Briggs did the honor of verifying the report from his fifth-grade self.

Briggs now works as the director of conservation at the Orianne Society, a nonprofit based in Tiger, Georgia, focused on conserving critical habitat for rare reptiles. He credits Andrews and the atlas with introducing him to the field.

“Jim was the first one that really introduced me to the concept of conservation and that these animals that I’m really interested in are in trouble,” Briggs said. “And that maybe instead of wanting to grow up and keep them as pets … I could go (into) a conservation field. And it was just this eye opening moment for me of realizing that you could actually have a job doing that kind of work.”

Briggs is one of many people in Vermont with a Herp Atlas story. With over 7,000 volunteers contributing their observations of reptiles and amphibians using the atlas website, the once-small project has become a keystone for community scientists.

The data collected and distributed by the Atlas has two purposes: to encourage community-based science and promote conservation practices.

“We use reptiles and amphibians as a conservation vehicle,” Andrews said. “And they’re a good vehicle because reptiles, amphibians, are species that people can see, they can handle, they can touch. Most people in rural states like Vermont … they do vary on their politics, but they’re interested in wildlife. And you can start them there and then start talking about some of the threats like habitat loss and habitat fragmentation and habitat degradation, climate change.”

The atlas continues to thrive as a result of community involvement, with 828 people submitting 3,382 records in 2023, Andrews said. In addition to sorting through submissions, Andrews and his staff traveled to 59 Vermont towns to confirm sightings last year. 

Confirming reptile and amphibian sightings has gotten significantly easier for the team over time, Andrews said, as nearly all submissions include a photo or video of the species of interest. In some cases, Andrews can look at image metadata and confirm where a picture was taken. Some species like frogs are easier to identify with an audio recording, he said. If a community member is empty handed when they encounter a species, they can still make a report using field markers — traits that make up a rubric for identifying an animal.

They are “certain critical things that you should see to determine what the species is,” Andrews said. “And so let’s say we’re talking about a wood turtle: black head, orange flesh, growth rings on the scoots of the carapace — things that people should notice that will confirm their identification.”

Grants from state and federal agencies help support Andrews and conservation biologist Kate Kelly as full-time employees. And the atlas team just wrapped up fundraising close to $20,000 to help pay part-time staff skilled with computer and data analytics, mapping, outreach, writing and photography skills, Andrews said.

“We hope to spin off people like (Kiley), give them some experience, give them some background and send them off into the world to do good things,” he said.

As for the season of looking for reptiles and amphibians: Herping is in full swing. Some species came out of hibernation as early as mid-March: spotted salamanders, blue spotted salamanders, wood frogs, newts, peepers and red back salamanders all in the Champlain Valley. Once night temperatures get to the 50s, Vermont herp enthusiasts can expect to find Jefferson salamanders, gray tree frogs, American toads, green frogs and bullfrogs.

“It’s become kind of a rite of spring,” Andrews said. “It’s one of the first things that you can do in spring that gets you out, and you get to see wildlife. It’s the change of season. You know, it’d be like spawning fish or birds singing again. It’s a sign that you’re moving into the next field season.”

To people hoping to see amphibians and reptiles moving at night this season Andrews offers the following advice:

-look for patches of open ground, with thawed soil

-the warmer the nighttime temperature, the better

-moisture is key, soil should be wet or they won’t move

-all you really need is a strong flashlight

-watch your step! Some of the coolest salamanders are tiny

-don’t look on busy roads, do wear visible colors

The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost.