Team Salamander

The Blackbird Academy
2806 Azalea Place, Nashville

Team Salamander is a university based research group that is dedicated to the measuring and monitoring of biodiversity in the southeastern USA.

Since 2004, over 785 students have participated in the longest running group studies project at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), entitled “Team Salamander.” The focus of Team Salamander had shifted and diversified over the years but the over-arching theme has been research, education, and leadership. Specifically, our objectives are to engage a diverse group of students through e

very step of the scientific method by actively inserting them into an ongoing long-term ecology research project emphasizing amphibians at one of our study sites. The Team Salamander experience encourages natural history investigation but also integrates STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. This process makes students more conscientious of their role in nature, and ultimately drives them to solve community based problems. This approach is becoming more common as higher education shifts from rote-memorization to problem-based learning. Most curriculums in higher education are based on predetermined benchmarks that have to be met and the Team Salamander experience is no different. However, it is more than just a traditional syllabus based lecture/laboratory course. Rather, it is a hands-on-cooperative experience that forces students to become independent and forward-thinkers. Ultimately, we strive for them to become natural science practitioners and informed citizens, and several have followed the path to graduate or professional school. Team Salamander gets recharged and reinforced every time a former member becomes a medical doctor, lawyer, pharmacist, engineer, geologist, school teacher, environmental consultant or academic. No matter their individual path, the team has collectively contributed to UTC and Chattanooga. Specifically, they have contributed to the research and education efforts at UTC, the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, the City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County Public Schools, Hamilton County Parks and Recreation, Thrive 2055, the Tennessee Aquarium, the Challenger Center, the Chattanooga Arboretum and Nature Center, and others. The team has organized wetland clean-ups and restorations and has been instrumental in starting a new UTC sanctioned club, entitled, “The Wildlife-Zoology Club”. They have also contributed materials to a new UTC course, entitled “Amphibian Conservation”, and have shared educational materials with interested parties using multimedia and the internet. The list goes on, but their greatest contribution has been educating others about the science and conservation issues involving amphibians and reptiles in the Southern Appalachians and in their own backyard.

10/11/2024

Enjoy this fall season and while your outside go observe wildlife as it prepares for winter dormancy.

04/15/2022

Members of Team Salamander present their work at Research Dialogues 2022. Congrats Erin, Nicole, Hunter, JR, Sean and Nyssa Hunt

Team Salamander on Twitter “Members of TS present their work at Res. Dialogues 2022”

10/13/2020

UT-Chattanooga offers a M.S. of Environmental Science degree (non-thesis) that provides a new option for students wanting to gain experience in the fields of environmental science, biology, geoscience, policy, and natural resources. The non-thesis is designed for students who wish to enhance their professional degree skills. Our target audience is to attract a diverse array of students from a variety of background and potential students from Federal and State Agencies, consulting firms, K-12 schools, NGOs and non-profit organizations, and individuals with a variety of other natural resource backgrounds. For more information please contact the Environmental Science Program Coordinator or see http://catalog.utc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=33&poid=6228&hl=%22Environmental+%22&returnto=search or https://new.utc.edu/research/graduate-school. New students are accepted in Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters as space permits

Program: Environmental Science, M.S. - University of Tennessee, Chattanooga - Acalog ACMS™ The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a national model for metropolitan universities. In collaboration with our many regional partners, we offer our students an experiential learning environment graced with outstanding teaching scholars in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs.

04/13/2020

If you are interested in earning a M.S. degree in Environmental Science (< 4 semesters), then you should check out UT-Chattanooga and their new ESC Non-Thesis track . Please share

03/02/2020

Team Salamander representing the lab and presenting research at the annual Southeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation meeting this weekend.

04/19/2019

Congrats to both Cullen Harris and Caitlin Peterson for winning two outstanding undergraduate awards.

04/10/2019

A great presentation from a great student. Good job Harris

02/26/2019

Heavy rains in the area cause flooding, fallen trees, downed power lines and mudslides (Signal Mountain Subway demolished by mudslide). Stay safe!

02/18/2019

Current and former members of Team Salamander and the UTC herpetology lab at the Southeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation meeting in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Poster and oral presentations on microhabitat assessment of Zigzag Salamanders, the amphibian chytrid fungus, snake fungal disease, drones as a turtle surveying tool, and local introductions of invasive/non-native herps.

01/01/2019

The fall of 2018 was filled with sorrow as we lost four major players in the evolution of team salamander in a span of just six weeks. May they RIP...Dogo (Wildlife Detection K9), Grandma (Influence on our Love of Nature), PJ (Co-founder of Team Salamander), and Dr. Carl H. Ernst (Mentor and Life Long Friend). We love and miss you. All of you shaped our lives in unique and positive ways. Words alone cannot express our sorrow...but we know that you will all be in our hearts, minds and souls as we press forward through the new years ahead.

12/31/2018

Please have a safe and happy new year

11/23/2018

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Chattanooga

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http://www.utc.edu/biology-geology-environmental-science/

Address

615 McCallie, Avenue University Of Tennessee At
Chattanooga, TN
37403

Team Salamander

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