Herpetology Specialist Named as Statewide Educator of the Year
Dorcas and students show off some residents of the herpetology lab. (l-r) Pierson Hill ‘05, David Stroupe ‘02, Dorcas, Kristine Grayson ‘03, and J.D. Willson ‘02.
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3/3/2004
Contact: Bill Giduz 704/894-2244 or bigiduz@davidson.edu
A Davidson scientist who cherishes small, cool critters as vital indicators of the health of the environment has been named “Educator of the Year” by the N.C. Wildlife Federation.
Michael E. Dorcas, assistant professor of biology at the college since 1998, loves nothing better than traipsing through the woods turning over rocks and logs to look for cold-blooded reptiles and amphibians. “I got bored with fishing as a kid, so I’d wander off looking for snakes and frogs,” he recalled. “And I still love doing that!”
Dorcas has spent the last 20 years researching the biology of snakes, frogs, salamanders, lizards, and turtles, and studying how humans are impacting their populations. He directs Davidson’s Herpetology Laboratory (the study of amphibians and reptiles), and, along with his students, has established an educational web site called “North Carolina’s Amphibians and Reptiles” that is the most frequently visited site of its kind for the state. (Visit the site here.) He has written articles in professional journals, many of which include Davidson research students as the first author. Dorcas and his students also take active roles in community outreach, presenting educational programs to school and community groups, and he works frequently with local public officials and developers to minimize the damage of development on local ecosystems.
Dorcas will receive the award on March 20 at a Wildlife Federation banquet in Raleigh. Gene Vaughn, a senior scientist at Duke Energy’s environmental laboratory who nominated Dorcas, said, “We’re tearing up so much of the habitat that reptiles and amphibians are being displaced, and we don’t know a lot about them. I’m so impressed with Mike’s work in assessing this, and teaching an environmental ethic to students who will set environmental practices and run government in the future.”
Dorcas shows a big alligator snapping turtle caught in Georgia.
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Vaughn has worked with Dorcas primarily on a “coverboard” program established through the Central Carolina Amphibian and Reptile Initiative, an organization Dorcas co-created four years ago with Don Seriff of Mecklenburg County Natural Resources Division. About a dozen entities, including school classes, corporations, and Davidson College, are monitoring reptile and amphibian populations along the Catawba River by periodically tallying up those which have sought shelter under boards participants place on the ground.
Vaughn said, “School children get excited about seeing what they find. And there’s great ecological importance in Mike’s recording the findings in his database. Over time you can get an idea of what kind of amphibians and reptiles are showing up along the rivers.”
Dorcas began his career as a public school teacher, then decided to undertake graduate studies in zoology. He earned his Ph.D. from Idaho State University studying the physiology of a small boa constrictor called the “rubber boa,” which is found in the northwest United States. Much of his research these days concerns conservation issues related to amphibians and reptiles of the southeastern United States.
He has enjoyed many adventures that demand significant respect and knowledge of his subjects. He once recaptured an escaped pet ten-foot Burmese python on the front porch of a house in Aiken, S.C., and he has logged many close encounters with venomous Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes in order to implant data logging and tracking devices under their skin. His studies of cottonmouths and rattlesnakes have been highlighted on various television programs, including episodes of National Geographic’s “Reptile Wild.”
He has written three books about snakes, two of which will be published this spring. He and a colleague, Whit Gibbons from the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, have written one book about the watersnakes of North America to be published in May of this year and a second book for the layperson called “Snakes of the Southeast” which will be in print in 2005. Dorcas is the sole author of a book about the thirty-seven species of snakes found North Carolina—a colorful, easily readable volume that will be available in places like museum bookstores and travel centers later this year.
Kristine Grayson ’03 and Dorcas doing research in southeast Arizona.
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He has made almost fifty presentations at professional society meetings since 1989, and received thirty-four grants from outside agencies to fund his work.
Much of his research is conducted locally in collaboration with Davidson College students. They have surveyed streams and ponds near Davidson to determine the effects of trampling cattle and real estate development on the creatures that live in those waters. One such study resulted in finding the largest snapping turtle ever in North Carolina, a fifty-three pound whopper! Another study, which looked at the effect of development on stream-dwelling salamanders, received attention from the popular press because of its conclusion that the way in which most stream buffer zones are implemented is inadequate to protect the water and the aquatic life that lives in it.
Nine students are currently working with Dorcas on field studies on the 400-acre Davidson College Ecological Preserve, tracking snakes with radio telemetry and using fabric fences in the woods to steer animals into capture buckets for population studies. Several students make presentations to school groups, and everyone in the lab gets involved with an educational on-campus “Reptile Day,” which will be held April 3 of this year.
Though Dorcas is dismayed at the toll real estate development takes on the animals he studies, he doesn’t believe the cause is hopeless. He explained, “Any time you bulldoze the forest, you either kill or displace the animals that live there. We’re trying to reach a balance between economy and the environment, but it’s hard for developers to put salamanders or box turtles above big profits.”
He continued, “However, I don’t think it’s necessarily a losing battle. The thing that will make a difference is education—educating the next generation.”
He said amphibians and reptiles are good “tools” in the effort to initiate a more informed public environmental ethic because they are generally small and harmless. “I can hand you a kingsnake and let you appreciate it up close, but you probably wouldn’t appreciate it if I did the same thing with a bobcat,” he said.
Dorcas involves himself directly in conservation policy by consulting with governing bodies and developers about development projects. He is currently working to minimize the environmental impact of a large subdivision planned for Highway 73 along the Rocky River. “It includes a vast wetland and pond system that’s quite possibly the most ecologically important place in northern Mecklenburg County,” he said. “We’ve found more species there than any other place we’ve surveyed, including Davidson College’s own Ecological Preserve.”
By working within the system, Dorcas hopes his influence will lead the developers to do a better job of conserving and minimizing the effects of their project on animal populations. ”Obviously I’m not making a lot of political decisions, but I can provide people with informed opinions that many of them respect,” he said. “Often developers and town planners are simply unaware of the effects of their work, and are more than willing to take a look at more ecologically friendly alternatives.”
Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,600 students. Since its establishment in 1837, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine. Davidson is engaged in “Let Learning Be Cherished,” a $250 million campaign in support of student financial assistance, academic resources, and community life.
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