Silver Salamander Award Recipients
Sarah Jane Stanger Guy (left), Jeff Hathaway (centre), Kelsey Moxley (right)
This year, the Silver Salamander Award was presented to Scales Nature Park in recognition of their extensive, long-term outreach and education efforts fostering the conservation of Canada’s amphibians and reptiles and their habitats. The nature centre is home to the largest collection of native amphibian and reptile species in Canada. It provides visitors with a unique opportunity to see, learn about and connect with Canada’s native species and, in doing so, Scales is fostering much-needed support for the conservation of our native amphibians and reptiles. However, the nature centre is only the tip of the iceberg; Scales staff travel across Ontario, and sometimes other provinces, bringing live animals and their hands-on programming to classrooms, festivals, and public events of all types. The scope and magnitude of this programming is massive and reaches thousands of people across the province every year. Scales’ extensive education and outreach efforts have—without any doubt—been one of the major contributors to the positive shift we are finally seeing in public understanding and appreciation of amphibians and reptiles in the province. In adding to public education, Scales has also become an epicenter for training the next generation of Canada’s herpetologists. Staff, volunteers, students and collaborators receive intensive hands-on training and work experience in a variety of areas, including public outreach, animal care and a diversity of field skills. The magnitude of this contribution is unparalleled in Canada, with the number of individuals being trained in the field of herpetology each year numbering in the dozens. This mass-training of early career herpetologists has resulted in a huge influx of professional biologists across Canada with a specialized skill set and appreciation for Canada’s herpetofauna and their conservation needs.