Hybrid WN@tL: “Snakes Around Town: Baseline Snake Species Occupancy in Madison-Area Prairie Restorations”

Speaker: William Vuyk, Lakeshore Nature Preserve

Description: Reptiles and amphibians around the world are threatened by habitat loss and degradation due to urban and agricultural land development. Snakes are Wisconsin’s most abundant and diverse reptile taxon, and they accordingly play an important role in our state’s native ecosystems. Of sixteen species known to be present in Dane County, seven are species of special conservation concern and two are endangered. Urban environments are especially perilous for snakes with roads, pollutants, pets, and humans.

Bio: Will studied biology and history as an undergrad at UW Madison before graduating this spring. He is currently the President of the Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve and works as a research specialist in the David O’Connor Lab at the UW AIDS Vaccine Research Laboratory. Will has long had an interest in herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians), which inspired him to volunteer with a snake, turtle, and frog monitoring projects at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee and travel to Ecuador for a study abroad trip with his project advisor Catherine Woodward. In 2021, with the pandemic keeping his research opportunities local, Will decided to apply the snake monitoring techniques he learned at the Urban Ecology Center to document snake populations in Madison-area prairie restorations.

Explore More: Wisconsin DNR Snakes of Wisconsin: https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/herps.asp mode=table&group=Snakes

Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation: https://parcplace.org

Madison-Area Herpetological Society:
https://madisonherps.org/kickstart/en/wisconsin-reptile-resources/education-articles/114-how-can-i-become-involved-in-local-herp-conservation

Citizen science reporting with Herpmapper: https://www.herpmapper.org

If you’ll be watching the Zoom for the first time, please register for the WN@TL Zoom at go.wisc.edu/240r59. 

If you’ve already registered for a previous WN@TL zoom this year, you’re good—you don’t have to register again.

Continue to use the link found in the confirmation message Zoom sent you when you first registered.

WN@TL begins at 7:00pm Central.

You can also watch the web stream at the WN@TL YouTube channel.

Here are the components of the WN@TL User’s Guide: 

1. The live WN@TL seminar, every Wednesday night, 50 times a year, at 7pm CT in Room 1111 Genetics Biotech Center and on Zoom at go.wisc.edu/240r59 

2. The WN@TL YouTube channel

3. WN@TL on the University Place broadcast channel of PBS Wisconsin 

4. WN@TL on the University Place website