AmphibiaWeb Team

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The Steering Committee and the Associates meets weekly to review the latest in amphibian news, consider new partnerships, address any controversies in the amphibian literature, and discuss how better AmphibiaWeb can address conservation issues facing amphibians in crisis. Other Acknowledged Contributions by the AmphibiaWeb Team

Steering Committee

Jim McGuire

Director
University of California, Berkeley

Jim McGuire is a Curator of Herpetology in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley. Jim studies diversification and biogeography of reptiles and amphibians, particularly those of Indonesia, and maintains an active field program focused on the Indonesian islnd of Sulawesi, as well as other islands around the archipelago. His UC Berkeley Herpetology class has contributed AmphibiaWeb species accounts for years, and his graduate students are regular contributors. He brings his rigorous evolutionary biology and taxonomic perspective to the AmphibiaWeb.
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Michelle S. Koo

Associate Director
University of California at Berkeley

Michelle Koo is the staff curator of Biodiversity Informatics at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley, whose research in the evolutionary biogeography of vertebrates tends towards the herpetological ones. She brings informatics, cartography and data together for AmphibiaWeb acting as chief editor and go-getter.
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Vance Vredenburg

Associate Director & Co-Founder
San Francisco State University

Vance Vredenburg is professor of biology at San Francisco State University, fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, and research associate of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley. His research focuses on emerging infectious disease and conservation of amphibians. Vredenburg is AmphibiaWeb's amphibian disease expert.
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Rayna Bell

Senior Associate
California Academy of Sciences

Rayna Bell is the Curator of Herpetology at the California Academy of Sciences where she is actively pursuing the evolution, ecology and physiology of frogs, particularly in West Africa, including the Gulf of Guinea islands. She also collaborates with partners in Puerto Rico and US Fish and Wildlife Service leading the conservation genomics efforts to form sound conservation strategies for Eleutherodactylus frogs endemic to the island of Puerto Rico.
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David Blackburn

Senior Associate, Taxonomy Subcommittee
University of Florida, Gainesville

David Blackburn is a curator of herpetology in the Florida Museum of Natural of History at the University of Florida. His research focuses on the diversity and evolution of amphibians, especially frogs, with focus on anatomy, African biogeography, and even fossils. Currently he is the lead PI on NSF's Overt project to CT scan all vertebrates. He is one of the 'Davids' on AmphibiaWeb's taxonomy subcommittee.
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David Cannatella

Senior Associate, Taxonomy Subcommittee
University of Texas, Austin

David Cannatella is a professor of integrative biology and the associate chair of the Biodiversity Collections at the University of Texas, Austin. He studies systematics and evolution of frogs, notably in the Neotropics. He is a member of AmphibiaWeb's taxonomy subcommittee bringing his detailed knowledge of the nomenclatural rules to good use.
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Alessandro Catenazzi

Senior Associate
Florida International University

Alessandro Catenazzi is an associate professor of biology at the Florida International University, where his research focuses on conservation biology and herpetology with diverse studies on chytrid in the Andes, thermal ecology and physiological impacts of climate change and evolution of frogs and lizards in South America. He is a reviewer for the Red List Authority on neotropical amphibians.
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Ann Chang

AmphibiaWeb Coordinator
University of California, Berkeley

Ann Chang is AmphibiaWeb's editor of all student species accounts, including supervising all UC Berkeley apprentices for AmphibiaWeb, and coordinating our public events like CalDay at UC Berkeley. Ann specializes in scientific education and is responsible for the lesson plans on our Education Resources. She manages our Facebook account while coordinating the Steering committee meetings; in short, she has been keeping us sane since 2013.
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Joyce Gross

AmphibiaWeb Programmer & Co-Founder
University of California, Berkeley

Joyce Gross has worked as a programmer for natural history collections for over 20 years and launched AmphibiaWeb in 2000 as one of the original founders. She is also a published photographer and, in 2020, released the updated edition of California Insects for UC Press.
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Max Lambert

Senior Associate
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife

Max Lambert is a conservation biologist and herpetologist whose research spans from the impact of managed landscapes on amphibian physiology to analyzing optimal breeding sites for urban frogs, in short, the growing fields of urban ecology and evolution. In his position as a scientist at the nexus of conservation and management, he serves as AmphibiaWeb's connection to research and action. He has served AmphibiaWeb since his postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley in 2019.
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Jodi Rowley

Senior Associate
Australian Museum and Univ. New South Wales, Sydney

Jodi Rowley is a Curator of Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, a joint appointment with the Australian Museum and UNSW Sydney. She brings her deep experiences of field work, new species discoveries, citizen science and amphibian diseases in Southeast Asia and Australia to her highly engaging public outreach, conservation and education work. You can find her in the field or sharing her love of amphibian biodiversity just about anywhere. Jodi serves on the AmphibiaWeb taxonomy subcommittee.
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Carol Spencer

Senior Associate
University of California, Berkeley

As staff curator of Herpetology at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, board member of SSAR and executive council of Herpetologists League, Carol Spencer is a critical link to the collections and herpetology discipline. She began her association with AmphibiaWeb as the HerpNet Coordinator and has been an active member since 2005.
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Kyle Summers

Senior Associate
East Carolina University

Kyle Summers is a professor of biology at East Carolina University in North Carolina. His research focuses on the evolutionary ecology and genetics of the Neotropical poison frogs, particularly the evolution of aposematism (warning coloration and chemical defense) and mimicry, and the evolution of parental care and related reproductive strategies.
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Rebecca Tarvin

Senior Associate
University of California, Berkeley

Rebecca Tarvin is a curator of Herpetology at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, where she studies evolutionary patterns in amphibians, particularly relating to toxicity. She has served AmphibiaWeb since she was a Miller postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley in 2018.
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Molly Womack

Senior Associate
Utah State University, Logan

Molly Womack is an assistant professor at Utah State University, where her research focuses on trait morphology and evolution in amphibians. She blends field work, lab work and cutting edge technology wherever possible such as her study on the loss of ears in Atelopus frogs and teaching anatomy with 3D models. She has served AmphibiaWeb since she was a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley in 2019.
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Current Associates

Raul Diaz	California State University Los Angeles, Professor
Emma Steigerwald	University of California Berkeley, Graduate Student
Rudolf von May	California State University Channel Islands, Professor
Andy Zink	San Francisco State University, Professor

Past Associates

David Bloom	University of California Berkeley, VertNet Liaison
Allison Byrne	University of California Berkeley, Graduate Student
Tom Devitt	University of California Berkeley, Graduate Student
Rebecca Doubledee	Declines Specialist
Jeffery Frederick	University of California Berkeley, Graduate Student
Christina Lew	University of California Berkeley, GIS Assistant
Meredith Mahoney	University of California Berkeley, Senior Associate
Lara Rachowicz	Amphibian Disease Specialist
Heidi (Newt) Rockney	Oregon State University, Videographer and Graduate Student
Tate Tunstall	Senior Associate
Jamie Voyles	University of Nevada, Reno, Amphibian Disease Specialist
Kellie Whittaker	AmphibiaWeb Coordinator and Senior Associate
Julian Wittische	Visiting Scholar, Associate
Mingna (Vicky) Zhuang	AmphibiaWeb Research Coordinator

Members-At-Large:

Arie van der Meijden
CIBIO Institute, Portugal

Global Partners:

Australia
Jean-Marc Hero

Borneo
Alexander Haas

Madagascar
Miguel Vences

In Memoriam

David B. Wake
1936 - 2021
Director & Co-Founder
University of California at Berkeley
David Wake founded AmphibiaWeb from the suggestions of students in his seminar on amphibian declines in 1999, which was proceeded by a decade of Wake sounding 'the alarm' on amphibian declines worldwide. He led the AmphibiaWeb team and its taxonomic subcommittee continuously from its founding until his passing in April 2021. He is dearly missed.
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Tim Halliday
1945 - 2019
Literature Specialist
The Open University, UK
Tim Halliday was the long-time International Director of the Task Force on Declining Amphibian populations. He was well-known for his extensive work on the breeding behavior of newts and his professional career was as a professor at The Open University. He was an accomplished artist who drew and painted amphibians and birds with vibrant realism. Among his numerous publications are his recent wonderful contribution, The Book of Frogs (Ivy Press, 2016). Tim contributed the monthly recent literature section to AmphibiaWeb for many years.
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We love to hear from you!

Let us know how you use AmphibiaWeb, whether for fun, class or research. Or for another aim entirely new to us. We are interested to hear how we can improve and what works for you. Know of some missing information on AmphibiaWeb? Please drop us a note. Thanks for using AmphibiaWeb!

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