Cameron Siler Lab

CONGRATULATIONS to the new Dr. Sierra Smith!! Amazing presentation yesterday!

Happy World Frog Day!!! Be sure to visit our website to learn all about our recent frog (and amphibian) research!
https://cameronsiler.com

An exciting week for the Siler Lab and colleagues with another publication released! This one uses eDNA sampling to barcode invertebrate communities at nationwide NEON sampling sites to assess the proportion of non-native invertebrates.
https://cameronsiler.com/non-native-invertebrates-edna-neon/

Another great microbiome paper on Oklahoma amphibians (salamanders this time!).
https://cameronsiler.com/oklahoma-salamander-microbiome/

Tomorrow, the Sam Noble Museum celebrates a very special anniversary. It will have been 125 years since the museum’s original charter was signed in 1899. At that time, it might have been hard to imagine that the museum would have such an enduring legacy. Just four years after the charter was signed, a devastating fire destroyed over 14,000 zoological and mineral specimens. Despite these losses, collections continued to grow for over a century, and we're proud to continue preserving them for Oklahomans today.

Happy International Women's Day!!! And a huge shout-out to the amazing women herpetologists who have been part of our lab over the last 6 months or so! Learn more: https://cameronsiler.com/the-lab/

Herpetology curator emeritus Dr. Laurie Vitt and collaborators (many of whom are his former graduate students!), just published an exciting article on the macroevolution of snakes in Science (which was even featured on the cover!).
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh2449

The Sam Noble Museum is excited to announce that our new temporary exhibit Bug Squad opens TODAY! Stop by today and you can also experience the insect themed games and activities of our Insect Adventure Curiousiday event as well, included free with your admission!

It's National Rattlesnake Day!!

Snakes are an incredibly fascinating group of reptiles that comprise more than 4,000 species. In Oklahoma, we have 51 species of snakes, most of which are harmless, although there are eight species of venomous snakes in Oklahoma and Ph.D. candidate, Sierra Smith, has worked to collect representatives of all eight species to study their venom. Venom helps snakes defend against predators and capture food. Sierra’s research aims to understand what types of toxins are present within snake venom and why those toxins change between the different species of snakes in Oklahoma. Sierra and fellow graduate student Cameron Forehand are pictured using snake hooks to handle a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake from a safe distance. The Copperhead is also featured climbing a fence to catch a cicada (same family as rattlesnakes, but no rattle!), and a tiny pygmy rattlesnake is pictured inside a “hot box” which is where we keep the venomous snakes after we collect them. All snakes, venomous and non-venomous, are awesome animals that the Herpetology Department at the Sam Noble Museum continues to study and monitor!

The Sam Noble Museum at the University of Oklahoma is being nationally recognized!

With its elaborate and educational collections showcasing the natural history of Oklahoma, the Sam Noble Museum has been named a Top 50 Most Impressive College Museum by College Values Online.

Read more: https://link.ou.edu/3tTCjlb

Sam Noble Museum's next upcoming exhibit:

Every bug – and every person – has unique abilities and traits that make them super. Bug Squad will create excitement about learning by immersing children in an exhibit inspired by fictitious superheroes and factual science. In this imaginative world, insects don’t just have super abilities, they are real superheroes! Kids will be introduced to a squad of uniquely characterized bugs that are designed to inspire a love for science and an appreciation for diversity.

Great turnout at the Curiosiday "Hooray for the Holidays" event this past weekend.