2012 Annual Report

Photo: Pete Oxford

2011-2012 Annual Report

Contents

Photo: Pete Oxford

Message from the CEO

Photo: Pete Oxford

Mission Statement

Photo: Pete Oxford

Model approach

Photo: Steve Winter

Photo: Javan Bauder

Photo: Pete Oxford

Lands Program Indigo Snake Initiative

Photo: Pete Oxford

Accomplishments of the Lands Program 

Photo Credit: Pete Oxford







 Above: The broader Orianne Indigo Snake Preserve.

Future Goals of the Lands Program  

    

Photo: Heidi Hall







Captive conservation and Reintroduction Indigo Snake Initiative

Photo: Chris Jenkins

Photo: Dirk Stevenson

Accomplishments of the Captive Conservation Program  

   

Photo: Fred Antonio

Future Goals of the Captive Conservation Program 

 

Conservation science Indigo Snake Initiative

Photo: Pete Oxford

Accomplishments of the Conservation Science Program 











Photo: Pete Oxford

Photo: Pete Oxford

Photo: Javan Bauder

Photo: Pete Oxford

Photo: Steve Winter

Future Goals of the Conservation Science Program 











Gopher tortoise Indigo Snake Initiative

Accomplishments of the Gopher Tortoise Conservation Program 







Photo: Pete Oxford

Future Goals Of the Gopher Tortoise Conservation Program 





Photo: Heidi Hall

Photo: Pete Oxford

Eastern Diamondback Indigo Snake Initiative

Photo: Pete Oxford

Accomplishments of the Eastern Diamondback Conservation Program 









Future Goals of the Eastern Diamondback Conservation Program 







 Photo: Pete Oxford

Photo: Pete Oxford

CONSERVING THE

TIMBER RATTLESNAKE

Refrigerator magnet distributed to Vermont residents.

Future Goals of the Timber Rattlesnake Program

Accomplishments of the Timber Rattlesnake Program 









 



  



Photo: Kiley Briggs

CONSERVING THE

MIDGET FADED RATTLESNAKE

Accomplishments of the Midget Faded Rattlesnake Program 





 Photo: Steve Spear

Photo: Josh Parker

Future Goals of the Midget Faded Rattlesnake Program 





CONSERVING THE

BURMESE PYTHON

Accomplishments of the Burmese Python Project 





Photo: Abir Ahmed



Future Goals of the Burmese Python Project 









IDENTIFYING

PARCAS

Accomplishments of the PARCA Project 





Photo: Dirk Stevenson

Future Goals of the PARCA Project 





Photo: Kevin Stohlgren

STAFF Christopher Jenkins, Ph.D. is Chief Executive Officer of The Orianne Society. Chris has also worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society, US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Massachusetts, and National Geographic. He has worked on the conservation of reptiles and amphibians throughout North America and is currently expanding his work internationally. Chris’ primary interests are in the ecology and conservation of snakes and managing nonprofit conservation organizations. Chris founded and chairs the IUCN Viper Specialist Group and serves as co-chair on the Steering Committee for the Southeast Region of PARC. Chris is currently writing a book titled, The Indigo Snake: A Complete Guide to their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation.

Gary Baldaeus serves as The Orianne Society’s Chief Financial Officer. After completing eight years of military service during the 1960’s, he obtained his BBA in accounting from City University of New York-Baruch College. Upon graduation he joined Ernst & Young and retired after thirty years with the Firm. While with Ernst & Young, he served in numerous capacitates as an audit and consulting partner as a specialist in the healthcare and non profit industry, among other things. He is a practicing CPA, and a member of the AICPA, NYSSCPAs, and other professional organizations.

He has presented to a broad array of professional organizations on all aspects of accounting and operating matters and has served as an adjunct professor at New York Medical College. He is also a member of the board of directors and serves as Audit Committee Chairman of Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center in New York City.

Photo Credit: Pete Oxford

Fred Antonio is the Director of The Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation. Fred graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Fish and Wildlife Management. His career in the zoo field began as an Elephant Keeper at the Central Florida Zoo. Afterwards Fred’s career continued as a Reptile Keeper at the Dallas Zoo, and as a Research Assistant at the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission’s Wildlife Research Lab. Fred has also served the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as Population Manager for the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, Vice Chair for Studbooks and Population Management Plan for the Wildlife Conservation Management Committee and is currently a member of the Steering Committee for the AZA Snake Advisory Group.

Javan Bauder is a Assistant Conservation Scientist with The Orianne Society. He received his B.S. in wildlife resources from the University of Idaho, and his M.S. in biology from Idaho State University. Javan is currently studying the thermal ecology of Eastern Indigo Snakes to better understand factors that have and are contributing to their decline. This includes the thermal ecology of Eastern Indigo Snakes in southern Georgia to understand how alterations to their thermal environment may have contributed towards their declines and the spatial and habitat ecology of Eastern Indigo Snakes in south Florida to determine how they respond to habitat fragmentation. Javan is also assisting in the development of an occupancy monitoring program for Indigos in the Altamaha River drainage.

STAFF

STAFF Sue Bottoms is the Administrative Assistant for The Orianne Society. A native of north Georgia, Sue worked as a paralegal for a law firm. Sue had the privilege to fulfill her desire to serve the public when she was elected to the office of Probate Judge. She has owned three businesses and enjoys taking on new challenges. After deciding to pursue a new venture in life and learning about the mission of The Orianne Society, Sue began working as an Administrative Assistant for the organization. Sue is currently a board member of a non-profit school and enjoys the fundraising aspect of her position. Sue and her husband have one son and three dogs. She enjoys spending time with family, camping, and traveling.

Jeff Brewer is the Field Operations Coordinator for The Orianne Society's Land Management Team. He graduated high school in Prattville, Alabama with vocational forestry training. Jeff has attended timber cruising workshops at the University of Georgia and numerous short courses on Rare and Endangered Species, Water Shed Protection, Georgia Master Timber Harvester, Georgia Certified Prescribed Burner and is a member of the Georgia Prescribed Fire Council. His 20 years of forestry work here in South Central Georgia consists of cruising timber, buying timber, marking timber, timber sales preparation, logging supervision, reforestation and prescribed burning.

Photo Credit: Pete Oxford

Kiley Briggs is a Research Technician for The Orianne Society. Kiley grew up in Vermont where he earned a B.S. in wildlife biology in 2008. Since then he has worked as a field and office assistant for the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas Project and as a technician on a project aimed at developing an adequate sampling method for Mudpuppies in the Northeast. In addition, Kiley served as a technician in a field study looking at the nesting success of grassland birds in agricultural environments and spent a summer working in the field with a graduate student studying the population dynamics of Rainbow Smelt after the introduction of Alewife into Lake Champlain. His primary interests lie in the conservation and restoration of Rattlesnake populations in New England.

Heidi Hall (Holm) is the Program Manager and Director of Communication for The Orianne Society. Heidi studied Fisheries and Wildlife Management at Hocking College in Ohio where she earned a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Management. After a little globe-trekking, she continued her education at the University of Idaho, studying Wildlife Biology, earning a B.S. in Biology in 2003. Upon graduating, Heidi began her career as a consultant, working primarily with the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act; studying various species ranging from sage grouse to salmon. Her area of interest lies in communicating the multiple threats to snakes to the general public and organizing citizen science projects.

STAFF

STAFF Drew is the Communication Specialist—Web Design for The Orianne Society. Drew is a Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW). He was conferred his CIW from St. Petersburg College and holds a B.A. cum laude in Mass Communications from the University of South Florida. He has served as the Legislative Assistant to a Florida State Senator and founded Ventureus Inc., a web consulting firm helping small businesses compete in the online global marketplace. Drew and his wife, Faith, live in Rabun County where they hike Appalachian trails and endeavor to save turtles crossing the road.

Mike Jackson is the Communication Specialist—Digital Media for the Orianne Society.

Throughout his career Mike has worked to engage the public and raise awareness on a number of important environmental issues, from energy efficiency and conservation to land use planning and management. He has a degree in communications from Park College—a small liberal arts school located in Parkville, MO where he was an all-American in track and field. He served on the board of trustees for the Little Tennessee Watershed Association and is the founder of a non-profit community group working to promote civic engagement on local issues in Macon County, NC. Mike lives with his wife, a research ecologist, and their young son in the mountains of western North Carolina and enjoys playing guitar with his rock and roll band.

Karen McLain serves as The Orianne Society’s Accountant. She spent her early years in northern New Mexico camping, hiking, and enjoying the wilderness including observing and tracking snakes in the mountains. Karen also lived in UT, NY, IL, and Okinawa. Her parents worked for the U.S. Department of the Army so she was able to travel all over the world. Karen received her degree in Natural Resource Conversation from SUNY (Finger Lakes, NY), but pursued an accounting career in non-profit agencies. Her past positions in non-profit companies include Executive Director for a builders’ association, the business administrator at a church, and an accounting analyst for a church denomination. She and her husband live with their dogs and horses in North Georgia.

Courtney began her interest of animals at a young age in the woods of southern Connecticut. As a teenager she worked in a local pet shop where she first discovered her love for reptiles. After high school she went on to attend Delaware Valley College where she was part of the first Zoo Science class. This unique major combined lab animal sciences, and wildlife conservation, but had a specific focus on zoo keeping in AZA accredited facilities. Along with taking zoo related classes, zoo internships were required for hands on experience. She took advantage of this, being drawn to facilities that had captive animals but were also doing research in the field. She graduated in 2007 with a B.S in Animal Biotechnology and Conservation and among the first in the Zoo Science

STAFF

STAFF Dr. Stephen Spear is a Assistant Conservation Scientist for The Orianne Society. Stephen received his B.S in Biology at the University of Richmond in 2001, his M.S. in Biology at Idaho State University in 2004, and his Ph.D. in Zoology at Washington State University in 2009. Both his master’s and doctoral research focused on understanding how landscape configuration influenced the population genetic structure of amphibians. Currently, Stephen is working with researchers at Idaho State University, College of Southern Nevada, and University of Idaho to use demographic, genetic, and modeling approaches to predict how energy development might affect the persistence of Midget Faded Rattlesnake populations in southwest Wyoming.

Dirk Stevenson is the Director of Inventory and Monitoring for The Orianne Society.

Dirk attended Southern Illinois University where he studied zoology. He has nearly 20 years of professional experience working as a field zoologist in the southeastern Coastal Plain. Dirk has previously worked for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, The Nature Conservancy, and the Department of Defense (Fort Stewart).

He has published several dozen technical and popular articles, including recent Eastern Indigo Snake and Flatwoods Salamander papers that appeared in peer-reviewed journals. He authored or co-authored numerous species accounts and provided many photographs for a recently published book on the herpetofauna of Georgia.

Photo Credit: Pete Oxford

Kevin Stohlgren is a Research Assistant for The Orianne Society. Kevin grew up in Central Missouri and received his B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife from the University of Missouri in 2007. He has worked with the Missouri Department of Conservation on a reptile and amphibian monitoring project in the Ozarks and has also worked at the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center in Southwest Georgia. Kevin is currently working on his Master’s degree at the University of Georgia. His Master's research focuses on the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on the distribution and abundance of Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes on the coast of Georgia.

Wayne Taylor is the Director of Land Management for The Orianne Society. Wayne earned a B.S. in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida.

Wayne then served in AmeriCorps on the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, where he received initial wildland fire training. Since, he has led or participated in nearly 500 prescribed fires involving more than 200,000 acres while working for the St. Johns River Water Management District, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Air Force, private contractors, and private landowners. Wayne has been a host and mentor to the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center for 10 years by instructing and providing prescribed fire opportunities for U.S. and international wildland fire professionals.

STAFF

SCIENCE FUELED

BOOTS ON THE GROUND

CONSERVATION

Scan with your smartphone to donate!

Photo: Pete Oxford