mvz bulletin fall 2011

8/3/2019 MVZ Bulletin Fall 2011

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Welcome to the Fall 2011 issue of the MVZ Bulletin.As always, my thanks to the wonderful Anna Ippolitoand all other contributors. Please let Anna know if

youd like to contribute to further issues.

Well, this has been a very busy and productive fewmonths for us all. A major focus, and also a motiva-tion for several well-attended social events, was thesearch for a new Director of the MVZ and Professorin Integrative Biology. The search, ably chaired by Jim

McGuire, attracted a very strong field of candidatesand we enjoyed a series of exceptional seminars andinteractions with those short-listed Michael Nach-man, Scott Edwards, Liz Hadly, David Reznick andMichael Ryan. To get a taste of the intellectual feast,check out the on-line MVZ seminars at: http://mvz.berkeley.edu/mvzlunch.html. The Faculty havenow made a formal recommendation to the campus -for appointment of Michael Ryan - and we look for-ward to a return visit in early Spring by Mike and hisfamily. Mike is an outstanding evolutionary biologist,with a list of awards and achievements longer thanyour arm, and has all the attributes of a very success-ful Director for the MVZ. We hope sincerely that therecruitment will be successful, and so ensure the

ongoing health of our cherished institution.

At the same time, the MVZs program of innovativeresearch, education and outreach continues apace.Our international research, focused on discovery ofvertebrate diversity and understanding of evolution-ary and biogeographic processes that underpin it,spans several global biodiversity hotspots, includingIndonesia, Brazil, Africa and Guatemala. The last,supported by a substantial NSF grant lead by RauriBowie (with D. Wake, Papenfuss, Patton and Rovito)is not only leading to new discoveries, including, re-grettably, a substantial decline of Mesoamerican sala-mander species, but also driving important initiativesin preservation of key habitats. It also is building a

wonderful collaboration with scientists and institu-tions in Guatemala. More on that in this issue.

Closer to home, the MVZ is playing an importantrole in the recently launched Berkeley Initiative inGlobal Change Biology (BiGCB). This effort, centeredon the Berkeley Natural History Museums but involv-ing a wide range of faculty across the campus, aims toharness both historical records in our collections andlong-term ecological studies at Berkeleys field sta-tions (including Hastings) to improve understanding

of effects on species and ecosystems of rapid envi-ronmental change. As one component, Eileen Lacey isleading a project that builds on the results and speci-mens from the Grinnell Resurvey Project. This pro-

ject combines new ways of extracting genomic, iso-topic, and phenotypic data from specimens with fieldstudies of ecology to identify early-warning signals of

stress induced by climate change.

More exciting news comes from the bioinformatics

front. For many years our biodiversity informaticsgroup, led by John Wieczorek, has led developmentof informatics systems that enable more effective useof specimen-related data across museums, many ofwhich are now adopted globally. Thus, with key rolesfrom both John and our Curators, the MVZ has leadinitiatives such as MaNIS, HerpNET and ORNIS. Butthe very success of these taxon-focused initiativesoverwhelmed the initial design constraints, such thatVertNET was born. Now, with a new NSF grant ledby Carla Cicero (and John, Aaron Steele, CarolSpencer & Michelle Koo, and David Bloom as coordi-nator), these systems under the VertNET umbrellaare going into the cloud. If this is not enough, weve

just learnt that MVZ has been awarded a CLIR

Hidden Collections award to develop a database ofMVZs extensive archives and connect this to ourArctos database. Again, our exceptional staff bandedtogether to generate the extramural support neces-sary to maintain our ongoing effort to digitize and

expose our unique records for the benefit of all.

Finally, and once again, I want to emphasize theMVZs program in education and training. We have asuperb cadre of postdocs, graduate and undergradu-ate students the lifeblood of the institution. Thissemester the Lacey, Bowie and McGuire labs eachtook in new graduate students who Im sure willmaintain the MVZ tradition of excellence and senseof community. And our undergrad program contin-

ues to inspire. A new initiative is to reward under-graduates with outstanding performance in curatorialactivities via donor-supported MVZ Biodiversity Sci-ence Awards. We were pleased to reward six stu-dents this year and hope to have the resources for

even more in 2012.

Each of these topics, and more is expanded on in the

following enjoy!

Craig Moritz

Letter From the Director Fall 2011

The MVZ Bulletin

Inside this issue:

The MVZ in GuatemalaPage 2

MVZ Biodiversity Science

Awards

Page 3

Berkeley Initiative in Global

Change BiologyPage 5

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology3101 Valley Life Sciences Bldg.

University of CaliforniaBerkeley, CA 94720-3160

P: 510-642-3567F: 510-643-8238

http:.//mvz.berkeley.edu

Banner Image:

Copy of drawing showing

coyote stalking jack rabbit,

Photographer Joe Dixon,

Feb. 18, 1922, MVZ Image#3808


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MVZ Undergraduate, Daniel Wait,in Cerro San Gil holding a Ochre-bellied Flycatcher (Mionectes oleagi-

nus assimilis)

Rauri Bowie at Cerro San Gil aftercrossing a stream of water (hence

the shoes in his hands).

Page 2

Meet the MVZs spectacular research destina-

tion,the Mesoamerican Hotspot. Spanningmost of Central America, it is the worlds thirdlargest biodiversity hotspot (a region of signifi-cant biodiversity) with over 7% of the worlds

plant and animal species living there! As part ofthe biodiversity hotspot, Guatemala has been aresearch destination for MVZ scientists for the

past 30 years. Recently, thanks to generoussupport from the National Science Foundation,the Mesoamerican Hotspot has become a desti-nation for innovative collaborations betweenstudents and researchers at the MVZ and theUniversidad de San Carlos (USAC). In 2009 theMVZ received a NSF grant to continue field-

work in Guatemala through 2013.The MVZs Origins in GuatemalaThe MVZs interest in Guatemala began whenMVZ herpetologist David Wake studied sala-mander diversity and phylogenetics in San Mar-cos, Guatemala from 1969-1979. However, inthe 1970s, the Guatemalan Civil War createdtense, even hostile, conditions for zoologists, somuch so that Wake was forced to abandon hisstudy in 1979. (Still, over the years, Wake andhis students have been able to describe over 80species of Mesoamerican salamanders.) Theyear 2005 saw a renewed interest in Guatema-lan salamanders, prompted by the research ofGabriela Parra-Olea, a professor at the Univer-sidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico. A formerMVZ doctoral student, Parra-Olea traveled toGuatemala along with the MVZs Ted Papen-fuss, graduate student Sean Rovito, and herpe-tology curator Carlos Vsquez-Almazn fromthe USAC Museo de Historia Natural(MUSHNAT). They were shocked to find se-vere population decreases in many species, withsome species having disappeared from the re-gion entirely. A year later both David and hiswife Marvalee Wake returned to Guatemalawith a team of researchers. The results of thesetrips led to a paper in theProceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences titled Dramatic

declines in neotropical salamander populationsare an important part of the global amphibiancrisis (2009) by lead author Sean Rovito. The

paper garnered international attention for itsevidence of the severity of the global amphibiancrisis, and called for more studies throughoutMesoamerica to determine the causes of theamphibian population declines. Heeding thecall, in 2007, Ted and Carlos Vsquez-Almazn

approached the Rector (president) of the Universidad

de San Carlos in Guatemala (USAC) EstuardoGlvez to create a cooperative research program

between the two universities. Their primary interestwas to create a collaborative program for researchingand conserving the local environment. In April 2009their dream became a reality with an agreement for acooperative exchange between the two universities

signed by the MVZ and Recor Glvez.

A Spirit of Collaboration

One of the most exciting and forward-thinking com-ponents of the program is the element of collabora-tive undergraduate exchange between the MVZ andUSAC. In this program, UC Berkeley students travelto Guatemala to work in the field alongside USAC

students in relatively unexplored areas. Conversely,Guatemalan students are brought to the MVZ towork alongside their UC Berkeley peers to learnDNA lab procedures in the MVZs EvolutionaryGenetics Laboratory. With an MVZ faculty advisor,Guatemalan and UC Berkeley students are develop-ing independent honors research projects based ontheir work in Guatemala and in the MVZ. The pro-

ject aims to foster the next generation of Guatemalanand American scientists and to facilitate long-termcollaborations between these two countries. Ted andSean have advised three Guatemalan students ontheir theses. One of these students, Jacobo Conde, isnow pursuing his masters at San Francisco State

University under Dr. Vance Vredenberg.There have been several expeditions to Guatemalasince the grant was awarded. One of these trips took

place last August. A team of MVZ researchers, in-cluding undergraduates Olga Sanchez and DanielWait, were in Guatemala for three weeks. The tripincluded three study sites, one of which is the re-cently protected Sierra del Caral Mountain range insoutheastern Guatemala, which has previously only

been surveyed for salamanders. The team stayed ateach site for one week and conducted extensivewildlife surveys in the hopes of discovering moreabout Guatemalas amazing biodiversity. SaidDaniel,Going to Guatemala with the MVZ washands down the coolest thing that I have ever done. I

am so grateful that I was given the opportunity toparticipate in a true scientific endeavor at such ayoung age. My experience in Guatemala has reaf-firmed my desires to become a Biologist and future

professor.

(Continued on page 7)

The MVZ in Guatemala:Collections, Collaboration, and Conservation

Going to Guatemala

with the MVZ was hands

down the coolest thing

that I

have ever done. I am so

grateful that I was given

the opportunity to

participate in a true

scientific endeavor at

such a young age.

Daniel Wait


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Pictured left to right: Sarah Tulga, Jesse Dutton-Kenney, Joshua Penalba, Andrew Reagan,Vicky Zhuang

Congratulations to the recipients of the

MVZ Biodiversity Sciences Awards! Made

possible by generous donor support, these

merit-based awards were established in

Spring 2011 to create more opportunities

for MVZ undergraduates and enhance their

museum research experience. Award re-

cipients receive a $2500 stipend for one

semester. Below is a brief introduction to

this years award recipients.

Furthering Opportunities for MVZ Undergraduates

Page 3

Jesse Dutton-KenneyJesse works in the MVZ archives, entering data from cataloged historical images into Arctos. Thisaward gives her an opportunity to continue working with the museums archives - a collection thattraditionally has been under-supported compared to the other collections but is fundamental for much

of MVZs research as well as for research about the MVZ.

Joshua PenalbaJosh first started volunteering in the Prep Lab with Senior Museum Scientist, Monica Albe, in the fallof 2008. He is involved in multiple research projects in the Evolutionary Genetics Lab. He has also

been volunteering as a curatorial assistant in the bird collection since Fall 2010, and has helped super-

vise and train MVZ undergraduates and graduate students in curatorial and laboratory practices.

Andrew ReaganAndrew is a GIS /Informatics Research Assistant, and has been instrumental since he started in keep-

ing GIS work flowing for both curatorial tasks and MVZ research projects. Andrew would like topursue a senior honors thesis applying environmental niche modeling techniques to archaeological

questions in the Sierra Nevada.

Sarah TulgaSarah worked in the mammal collection inventorying hundreds of mammal tissue samples. Sarah

spent many hours searching the MVZs collection database, as well as the online data network,MaNIS, to find tissue matches at other collections.

Luanne WilsonLuanne works in the bird collection, accessioning and cataloguing specimens and tissues as well asassisting with visitors and loans. She has also helped to prepare specimens and has done scientific

illustration for the Specimen Preparation Lab Manual.

Vicky ZhuangVicky works in the herpetology collection as a paid curatorial assistant. Since Vicky started, she has

progressed from monitoring ethanol in specimen jars to being the lead curatorial assistant. She ex-celled at organizing and cataloging a large accession of over 4,000 salamanders. Vicky will use herfellowship to work on herpetology accessions, including some recent accessions from Indonesia.

The MVZ

Biodiversity Science

Awards:

A win:win:win!

These awards of $2500

stipends are given to

selected undergraduates

who have demonstrated

extraordinary

commitment and

sustained excellence in

their work in the MVZ

collections.

MVZ Biodiversity

Science Awards:

Directly support

training and

education of our best

MVZ

undergraduates

Foster the overall

MVZ Undergraduate

Program

Support the

protection, use and

development of the

MVZ's world-class

collections

These awards are funded

exclusively from

donations and are the

prime target for our

annual campaign. For the

coming year, we aim to

raise $50,000 from our

donors and alumni, to

allow 20 such awards. We

rely on you, so please

give generously.

Recent alums (classes of

2007-11) your

donations of any size will

be doubled by the

campus!


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Jerry O. Wolff, MVZ Ph.D1977, a professor at St. CloudState University, Minnesota,

who passed away in May 2008left a substantial bequest to theMuseum of Vertebrate Zoologyto create the Jerry O. WolffFund, which will be used toestablish an endowed fellow-ship to support graduate stu-

dents in the museum.An MVZ alum, Dr. Wolffsacademic career was illustri-

ous, and as a behavior ecologist he was renowned in his field. Heearned a bachelors degree from the University of Alaska, andlater went on to earn a masters degree from Northern ArizonaUniversity and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Wolff held faculty positions at the University of Alaska, Uni-versity of Virginia, Villanova University, and Oregon State Uni-versity. Over the course of his career, he published over 150 peer

reviewed papers, presented papers at over 80 colleges, universi-ties and institutions around the world, and left his final legacy ina widely recongnized book, Rodent Societies: An Ecologicaland Evolutionary Perspective. We note with great regret Dr.Wolffs passing. He is survived by his two sisters, Sandra M.Bolf and Pamela Edgley.These funds will have an enormous impact on our efforts torecruit and support the outstanding graduate students of theMVZ. says Craig Moritz, MVZ Director. That was Jerrysvision and it is part of his legacy.

A Bequest to Advance MVZ Research

From the MVZ Archives

In May of 1910, the MVZ sent Walter Penn Taylor, curator ofmammals under Grinnell, and Charles H. Richardson, Jr. to the PineForest Mountains in northern Nevada for 3 months. After workingthe canyons and ridges for almost 2 months, 21-year-old Taylorwrites: Our intention is to make a biological cross-section of themountains, camping at three points 1000 ft. apart on each slopeof the mountains. Their plan was published in UCPZ Volume 7,

Numbers 7 and 10. On July 18 they had packed up their two burroswith their camp outfit and specimens and about 3 pm we startedfrom our 5000 ft. camp [on Alder Creek] to return to our hed [WPT

followed Grinnells spelling innovations such as packt, hornd,thoroly] of Big Creek base camp.

This expeditions archive of 1505 specimens, 57 photographs and533 pages of field notes comprise the oldest documented scientificdata on Great Basin ecosystems. Based on this MVZ archive, resur-vey work has begun at the University of Nevada at Reno. Another

trip is planned for the summer of 2012.- Karen Klitz, Retired MVZ Archivist

Carl B. Koford captured this image of a California Condor chick be-tween the ages of nine and twelve days old using Kodachrome colorreversal film on May 7, 1941 in a nest cave at Hopper Canyon in Ven-tura County, California. A Research Associate and Associate ResearchEcologist at the MVZ during his career, Koford became widely knownas an authority on the California Condor, publishing his findings fromseveral years of direct observation in his 1953 book entitled The Califor-

nia Condor. - Kira Dodd, MVZ Archival Assistant

Page 4

We asked two of our archival specialists to select their favoriteimages from the MVZ Archives. Below are their selections and

some words on what makes these photos special.


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The MVZ has led in the development of networks and tech-

nologies that mobilize and enhance museum biodiversity data.

The recent funding of the VertNet Project by the National

Science Foundation will keep the MVZ in the vanguard.

The VertNet Project is a collaboration with the Universities of

Kansas, Colorado, Tulane, and Berkeley, to build upon the

successes of four existing vertebrate database networks

(MaNIS for mammals, ORNIS for birds, FishNet for fish,

HerpNET for reptiles and amphibians). Led by members of the

MVZ Community, including Principal Investigator CarlaCicero (Staff Curator of Birds), Co-PI Carol Spencer (Staff

Curator of Herpetology), Principle Architect John Wieczorek,

Lead Programmer Aaron Steele, and David Bloom VertNet

Coordinator, the VertNet Project will change how biodiversity

science is conducted globally.

VertNet is an online tool designed to help people discover,

capture, and publish biodiversity data on museum specimens

or observations of vertebrates. It is also a collaboration among

hundreds of institutions which together contribute over 85

million records to this online data portal. When fully func-

tional, VertNet will join the four vertebrate database networks

into a single integrated portal. VertNet will use a cloud-based

computing solution to create a fast, scalable and sustainable

data platform that goes beyond the abilities of current net-

works to provide capabilities and applications for data quality

improvement, discovery and visualization -- capabilities that

are in high demand by the research and policy-making com-

munities. The project also links to AmphibiaWeb to demon-

strate application for outreach. Put simply, the VertNet Team

strives to make the work of people who use biodiversity data

more productive by providing tools to make data easy to find,

easy to publish, and easy to use.

Follow the VertNet Project by visiting:

VertNet Blog

http://blog.vertnet.org

VertNet Website

http://vertnet.org

The Berkeley Initiative in Global Change Biology (BiGCB)

was recently awarded $2,499,234 from the Gordon and Betty

Moore Foundation in support of catalyzing the startup of the

BiGCB. This grant, which includes faculty in eight campus

departments and four of the Berkeley Natural History Muse-

ums, will support seven integrated research projects focused

on global change forecasting for California ecosystems. The

overarching goal is to achieve an integrated analysis of fossil,

historic and current data to uncover new knowledge of Califor-

nia ecosystems and how they respond to environmental

change, which will enable predictions of future ecosystem

changes. As part of this integrated research, the MVZ and its

collaborators are developing novel genomic, phenotypic and

isotopic technologies to compare early 20th century and mod-

ern museum skins from species shown through the Grinnell

Research Project to differ in response to 20th century climate

change. The goal is to develop novel methods to detect early

response to rapid environmental change for application to

central Californian coast species of small mammals, particu-

larly those key to disease transmission and ecosystem proc-

esses.

For more information please visit:

http://ib.berkeley.edu/labs/globalchange/projects.html

A New Model for Biodiversity Data Networks

Cutting-Edge Research in Global Change Biology

Page 5


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It is with much appreciation that we acknowledge each of the donors listed below. Thank you to those who have supported the Mu-seum of Vertebrate Zoology during the calendar year of 2010-11. Your commitment to the advancement of the MVZ will make a

difference for generations to come.

2011 Honor Roll of Donors

Page 6

A Changing of the Guard at HastingsIn January 2012, Mark Stromberg will retirefrom his position as Resident Director of ourHastings Natural History Reserve. For once, su-perlatives fail. Over his long tenure, Mark, withcontinuing support from his wife, Barbara, hasbuilt Hastings to be the crown jewel of the UCNatural Reserve System facilitating long-termresearch by a wide range of academic users andboth maintaining and extending the infrastructure.Over recent years, in addition to publishing signifi-cant research on native grasslands, Mark hasshown great initiative in generating resources torepair historical buildings, build new facilities and,with Eileen Lacey, establish cutting-edge monitor-ing systems. He also built excellent relations withthe Carmel-Monterey community that we aredetermined to maintain. Mark succeeded wheremany would fail through determination coupledwith a dry sense of humor well miss his stories.Although all is not lost Marks reputation andcapabilities are such that he was immediately re-

cruited by system-wide NRS to develop proposalsfor research initiatives spanning the network. Wewill celebrate Marks achievements with an event

in the Spring.

So, these are big shoes to fill. Happily, we havefound just the person. Vince Voegeli and his familywill be joining the our community as ResidentDirector in January. Vince for several years servedas Executive Director of the Gerace ResearchCenter, a major field station in the Bahamas andhas also managed research projects at the Yellow-stone Ecological Research Center. He comeshighly recommended and has all the attributesnecessary to maintain Hastings program of inno-

vative research and outreach into the future.

Anonymous DonorsDavid Berke IIKevin Burns and Kevin ONeillStephen BusackJohn and Jenny CarothersCarla CiceroRichard CiminoKevin de QuierozRaul E. Diaz, Jr. (Allen Press Inc.)Paul EliasPaul HamiltonAlice Q. HowardAnna Ippolito and Nathan MatsubaraRebecca Jabbour and Gary RichardsScott JohnstonBob Jones and Lise ThomsenMichelle KooMichael Levine and Lily Mirels

Nancy Lusk and Michael SmithMara MacDonaldCraig Moritz

Stephen MorrisTheodore J. PapenfussJames and Carol PattonEllen M. PragerTyson ReadDavid O. Ribble and Helen BallewJavier RodriguezKristen RueggMargaret and Gary R. SmithHenry and Sonia SohnPatrick TamAnn TrpagaDavid and Marvalee WakeRichard WassersugMarshall White, Jennifer Meux White, Robert A. Aramayo

(Shasta Wildlife Conservation Fund)Kellie Whittaker and William W. FisherJohn Wieczorek and Eileen LaceyMichael and Jeanne WilliamsChristopher Witt

It is with much appreciation that we acknowledge each of the donors listed below.Thank you to those who have supporting the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology during

the year 2011. Your commitment to the advancement of the MVZwill make a difference for generations to come.

Vince Voegeli

Mark Stromberg


7/10

Conservation in ActionThe Mesoamerican Biodiversity Hotspot has one of the highest defores-tation rates, losing approximately 1% of its remaining forest each year.Scientific data from the MVZs fieldwork in Guatemala describing criti-cal habitats and threatened species is being used by Guatemalas govern-

ment to guide land decisions and conservation policies. Additionally, in2007, the MVZ and the USAC MUSHNAT began collaborating withfour NGOs in Guatemala that work with local communities to promotehabitat conservation and sustainability. In 2010, the MVZ collaboratedwith several Guatemalan NGOs in order to promote the purchase of thelast swatch of undeveloped forest in a small mountain range called theSierra de Caral in eastern Guatemala. The MVZ fieldwork in the areahad revealed that the land provides critical habitat for at least nine spe-cies of endangered salamanders, including Cryptotriton wakei, knownonly from a single specimen. On July 29, 2011 the land was officiallytransferred to FUNDAECO in a public ceremony. The MVZ returned toSierra del Caral as part of its August 2011 expedition to survey the areafor amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals and thus provide data to

the government on the biodiversity of this region.

(Continued from page 2)

Page 7

Fall 2011 Newsletter Contributors

Anna Ippolito, EditorCraig Moritz, Editor

Monica Albe,MVZ Alumni: Where are they now?David Bloom, Vertnet:A New Model for

Biodiversity Data NetworksVerna Bowie, Cutting-Edge Research in Global Change

Biology

Kira Dodd, From the MVZ ArchivesElyse Frietas, The MVZ in GuatemalaKaren Klitz, From the MVZ Archives

And many others...

Thank you!

The Guatemala student crew, including MVZ undergrads Olga Sanchezand Daniel Wait (far left) at Sierra del Caral take a short break for a

group photo.

Publications HighlightMesoamerican salamanders:Discoveries & Declines

Over some decades David Wake and his colleagues have discov-ered and described a major radiation of plethodontid salamandersfrom the forests of meso-America. Analysis of recent collectionsacross meso-America by the MVZ (especially Rovito, Papenfussand in-country collaborators) continue to uncover new species; asexamples see recent papers by Parra-Olea et al. (2009), Sunyer etal. (2010, 2011) and Vasquez-Almazan et al. (2009). Following aseries of surprisingly frustrating field trips during his PhD in the

MVZ, Sean Rovito realized that the global declines of amphibiandiversity previously focused on frogs were also evident for meso-American salamanders (Rovito et al. 2009). Yet, the cause of thesedramatic declines in salamander diversity remained obscure. Nowwe have a clue. Applying a new PCR-assay that can detect chitridfungus on formalin preserved specimens to the MVZ and othercollections, Tina Cheng, David, Sean and Vance Vrendenburg havedocumented the spread of this devastating pathogen from southernMexico in the early 1970s, through Guatemala and down to CostaRica by 1987. This spread coincides with the observed, often catas-trophic, declines of amphibian diversity across the region (Chenget al. 2011, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 108: 9502). Aside fromhelping us to understand these declines, this fine paper also, onceagain, demonstrates the often unanticipated value of the MVZs

collections.

** To access details of all the papers mentioned above, search

MVZ reprints at http://docubase.berkeley.edu/reprints.html.

And, please, remember to submit reprints of your publications thatuse the MVZ address (as all supported by MVZ should have) to

[email protected]

On the lighter

side...The first edition of

the MVZ Coloring

Book, "Fun in the

Field," came out

this year.

Download the PDF

from our website

and look for new

editions at future

CalDays.


8/10

The Centennial Campaign celebrates the Museum of Vertebrate

Zoologys first 100 years and prepares us for its second century.

The largest fundraising campaign in our history, the campaignofficially began in 2008 and will continue until 2018. The suc-

cess of the Centennial Campaign will ensure that the MVZ re-

mains a leader in research and education, and will protect our

collections for future generations. There are countless ways your

gifts, both small and large, are making an impact on every facet

of the museums operations. Highlighted below are our core

campaign objectives:

Enhance the academic experience of MVZ Undergraduates.

Each semester more than 100 undergraduates work alongside

faculty, curators, and graduate students in the MVZ. It is invalu-

able, hands-on work that few classes offer, enabling our students

to contribute to science as they learn and advance their careers.

The Need: Our goal to raise 50K annually for the undergraduate program will give more undergraduates an opportunity to participate

in the program. Infusing the Museums undergraduate program with private support will help us better serve our current and future

students.

Develop our capacity to generate and share knowledge about amphibian biology and conservation through museum informat-

ics, specifically the online database, AmphibiaWeb. AmphbiaWeb provides access to information on amphibian decline, conserva-

tion, natural history, and taxonomy.

The Need: We aim to build a $500K endowment to support an AmphibiaWeb coordinator who will oversee the activities of the data-

base and advance its mission.

Increase fellowships for graduate students. Graduate fellow-

ships play a vital role in research collaborations and numerous

field studies. In order to continue their important work, we must

increase our endowed funds for graduate fellowships.

The Need: It is our goal to double the recently established Alden

H. Miller Graduate Support Fund. With donor support, we can

continue to cultivate tomorrows scientific leaders and remain at

the forefront of international research.

If you wish to support the Centennial Campaign,

please make a donation online at the secure website:

http://givetocal.berkeley.edu

Or mail the form at the end of this newsletter to:

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

3101 Valley Life Sciences Building

University of California, Berkeley, 94720-3160

When making a donation, please indicate which of the initiatives

you wish to support. We thank you in advance for your

generosity!

Catching up with the MVZ Centennial Campaign

Page 8

Attention all alums undergraduate andgraduate from the Classes of 2007 to 2011!(plus all current students who will graduate in spring 2012)

Now is your chance to double your gift to Cal throughthe New Alumni Challenge.

The Challenge annually matches all single gift and

pledge payments up to $1,000 to any campus program

or fund, including gifts to the MVZ.

Times are tough for everyone, so this is a great way tomake even a small gift go a long way. Please considera gift to the MVZ and help us remain at the forefront

of international research on evolutionary biology!

To make your gift to the Museum, please visithttp://campaign.berkeley.edu/new-alumni-challenge/

and search on Museum of Vertebrate Zoology


9/10

MVZ Alumni: Where are they now?

Favorite MVZ

memory? Presenting

my senior thesis work

at Herp Group. Also

Cal Day, MVZ Coffee,

herpetology class field

trips, and receiving a

cardboard box with

6,000 salamanders in

it. Was I supposed to

pick just one?- Sara Weinstein

Page 9

Former Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Researchers

William F. Laurance (1989) spent 14 years with the Smithsonian Institution. He was recently

appointed Distinguished Research Professor at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia. Hesalso won the Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation, which is sponsored byWWF-Netherlands and the University of Utrecht, Netherlands.Vance Vredenburg (2002) is a professor of biology at San Francisco State University. He special-izes in ecology of emerging infectious disease, amphibian ecology and biogeography, and aquaticfood webs.Tami Mott (2006) is teaching at the Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso.

Lauryn Benedict (2009) is a professor of biology at the University of Northern Colorado. Shespecializes in animal communication and social behavior.Juan Parra(2009) has completed a postdoc with Catherine Graham (former MVZ Postdoc) atSUNY-Stonybrook and is now an Assistant Professor at Institute of Biology, University of Antio-quia, Medelln, Colombia.Matt Fujita(2010) will be starting a position as Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at

Arlington in July 2012.

Sean Rovito (2010) recently received a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology at the University of Califor-nia, Berkeley and was a UC MEXUS-CONACYT postdoctoral fellow at the Instituto de Biologa,UNAM, Mxico, under the supervision of Dr. Gabriela Parra-Olea. He is currently a postdoc inthe MVZs Bowie lab.

Former UndergraduatesKristina Yamamoto (2003) is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Denver. She is alsoworking at the USGS doing remote sensing research, where she just got a STAR award for excel-lence in her latest research project.Kim Tsao (2005) is attending Yale University for a PhD in Lyme Disease Ecology. In 2011 she

received a NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant.Rayna Bell (2007) is a PhD student at Cornell University in the lab of Kelly Zamudio (an MVZalum). She recently received a National Geographic Grant for her work on Hyperolius.

Teresa Feo (2007) is a third-year PhD student at Yale University studying bird evolution.

Allison Shultz (2007) graduated with a masters from San Diego State (under MVZ alum Kevin

Burns) and has now began PhD work at Harvard under the supervision of Scott Edwards (anMVZ alum).Rebecca Chong (2008) is a PhD student in the lab of Rachel Mueller (an MVZ alum) at ColoradoState University.Zach Hanna(2008) is returning to the MVZ and UCB as a PhD candidate, supervised by RauriBowie to study evolutionary biology in birds and help with the Guatemala Project.Matt McElroy (2008) is a first-year PhD student at the University of Washington studying evolu-tionary ecology of reptiles and amphibians in the lab of Adam Leach (an MVZ alum).Anand Varma(2008) has a budding career in photography and received a National GeographicYoung Explorers Grant in 2010 for work in Argentina.Maressa Takahashi (2008) is in her first year as a PhD student at Columbia University, Depart-ment of Ecology, Evolution, & Environmental Biology.Sara Weinstein (2008) is in her first year of a PhD program in the Department of Ecology, Evolu-tion, and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is working on para-

site ecology and evolution.Sarah Hykin (2010) is returning to the MVZ and UCB as a PhD candidate, jointly supervised byMarvalee Wake and Jim McGuire to study evolutionary biology in amphibians and reptiles.

The following former MVZ undergraduates were all awarded National Science Foundation Fel-lowships for graduate work: Allison Shultz (awarded 2008), Jessica Castillo (awarded 2010),Teresa Feo (awarded 2010), and Sara Weinstein (awarded 2010), Matt McElroy (awarded 2011)and Maressa Takahashi (awarded 2011) .

Let us know what youre up to by sending an email to [email protected].

Sarah Weinstein atBryce Canyon National Park


10/10

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mvz bulletin fall 2011

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