6-29-09

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Dr. Peter Petokas, research associate with the Lycoming College Clean Water Institute, and biology major Gwen Forestal participated in the 4th Hellbender Research Symposium held June 21-24, at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in Corbin, Ky.

The symposium provided a forum for sharing scientific information that can be applied to conservation and recovery programs for the giant North American Hellbender salamanders. Petokas gave a presentation titled “Population Dynamics of the Eastern Hellbender in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.” According to Petokas, the Ozark and Eastern Hellbender subspecies are declining in many parts of their historic range in North America.

Petokas and Forestal, who are experienced SCUBA divers, participated in a field trip to dive for Eastern Hellbender salamanders on the Green River in western Kentucky. A first-time experience for both, they dove using a “hookah” diving system where the divers rely on compressed air from a surface compressor and receive air through 150-foot air lines.

The symposium trip was partially supported by grants from the Degenstein Foundation and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.

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