Tiger Salamanders in Santa Barbara County: What we’ve learned and future prospects: Webinar Recording
California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense). Photo by Brad Schaffer
Free online lecture with Brad Shaffer
This presentation occurred live on Thursday, February 25, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Click the title below for the lecture recording.
Tiger Salamanders in Santa Barbara County
The Santa Barbara Distinct Population Segment of the California tiger salamander has been listed as Endangered for nearly 20 years. During that time, we have learned a great deal about its distribution, evolutionary history and distinctiveness, and threats to its continued survival in the wild. In close collaboration with both agency and local resident partners, Dr. Shaffer’s lab has conducted both field ecological and genetic analyses of the salamanders over the last five years that indicate the precarious situation that they face.
The California tiger salamander is an endangered species in Santa Barbara county. Photo by Brad Schaffer
In this talk, he’ll share the results of that research, and the directions that he feels are likely to be the most productive going forward in our efforts to save, and restore, this unique species that is only found in northern Santa Barbara County.
Conservation biologist Brad Schaffer. Photo courtesy of the speaker
Brad Shaffer is a Distinguished Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA. He was an undergraduate zoology major at UCSB and UC Berkeley, received his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago where he worked on Mexican tiger salamanders. A life-long herpetologist, Brad has studied tiger salamanders and their relatives across the US and Mexico for four decades. He is the founding director of the UCLA/La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, the UCLA Stunt Ranch natural reserve, and the California Conservation Genomics Project, an effort using genomic analysis to revamp conservation efforts in the state.
