We are pleased to announce that the project to digitize Duke herpetologist Dr. Joe Bailey’s herpetofauna observations from the Duke Forest is now fully funded! Thank you to those of you who donated, including current and former citizen scientist volunteers, students of Dr. Bailey, and also Dr. Bailey’s children Patsy and Mick who were instrumental in seeing this project through the finish line. Thank you all! The work has begun. Stay tuned to this newsletter for updates!
This is a unique opportunity to make an impact on research, wildlife conservation, and citizen science efforts in Duke Forest.
Recently, the NC Museum of Natural Sciences brought to our attention a collection of herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles) records from the Duke Forest collected by faculty member Dr. Joseph “Joe” Bailey between the 1960s and the 1980s. This collection consists of over 1,200 records, including a preserved voucher specimen for the Dwarf Waterdog in New Hope Creek – the only verified record for this species in Orange County!
From Velhagen, Jr., W.A. & Stewart, M. M. (2000). Joseph Randle Bailey. Copeia, 2000(1), 310-313. https://doi.org/10.1643/0045-8511(2000)2000[0310:HPJRB]2.0.CO;2
The Bailey collection is critical to filling in gaps about our knowledge of “herps” in the Duke Forest, but alas, much of this information is found only on 3×5 inch note cards.
WHO WAS DR. JOE BAILEY?
Dr. Bailey’s legacy at Duke and in the field of herpetology is huge. Your contribution can expand his impact by giving dormant data new life. Click below to learn more about his legacy.
[accordion tag=p clicktoclose=true accordion usebuttons=true][accordion-item title=”Read More” state=closed]
Read this article about his legacy as “a truly complete vertebrate zoologist”, curator of Duke’s vertebrate collection, and a preeminent scholar of snake classification (among other many other amazing accolades).
One of our citizen scientist volunteers shared this wonderful reflection of Dr. Bailey:
He was generous with his time and expertise. I was teaching 3rd grade at the Duke School in the mid 80’s and had a garter snake in a terrarium. I invited Dr. Bailey to come to my class to talk about snakes. … [Our snake] fought him enough to be able to bite him on the crease between thumb and index. “It’s bleeding!” said several kids. He answered that it was nothing more than the scratch caused by a briar thorn and that garters were not venomous. Then he passed around big preserved skins; all from venomous snakes! Diamondback, canebrake, timber rattlers! “Had he caught them himself” asked the kids. No, no, the Durham police had offered them to the Duke Zoology Department. He thought they would be an excellent opportunity for students to dissect snakes. In the 70’s there were still some primitive churches that did some snake handling as part of their worshipping. It was illegal. Acting on a tip, the police had raided a church and confiscated their herps in their sturdy boxes. The Museum of Life and Science declined to take them, so the Duke Zoology folks got second dibs. Joe Bailey must have jumped on this opportunity… The kids were entranced to be able to handle such skins.
[/accordion-item][/accordion]
HERE’S WHERE YOU MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
We need just $5,643 to make this project a reality.
Anything you donate through the link below helps ensure that the NC Museum of Natural History, Duke Forest researchers, managers, and citizen scientists, as well as the broader conservation and ecology community have access to this data in a useable form.
Your donation connects our current citizen scientists’ efforts to a larger ecological and conservation story, and it makes every observation more meaningful as our world changes.
Here are some questions that can be asked with your help.
- Are there animals we don’t see anymore?
- How have these animal populations responded to environmental changes?
- What changes are the biggest drivers, e.g. climate, development, etc.?