This week comedian Shane Mauss takes a field trip to the Fort Worth Zoo to talk to Senior Curator of Ectotherms Diane Barber and Reproductive Biologist Allison Julien all about toads, explosive reproduction, biodiversity, and why amphibians are the canary in the coalmine for the freshwater that humans and so much of earth’s life depend on.

We’ll have two more Ft Worth Zoo episodes coming zoon. We’re gonna learn a lot about training and providing medical care for elephants.

In the meantime you can find other zoo episodes by listening back to the https://www.herewearepodcast.com/

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Diane Barber, senior curator of ectotherms at the Fort Worth Zoo, has 40 years of zoological experience (23 at the Fort Worth Zoo), with a primary focus on amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, and aquatic species.

In addition to overseeing the ectotherms collection at the Fort Worth Zoo, Barber manages all aspects of conservation programming (e.g., population management, development, implementation of recovery goals, in situ and ex situ research, reintroduction, monitoring programs, assisted reproductive technologies for amphibians, biobanking, captive propagation and husbandry, genetic management, disease surveillance, radio telemetry, harmonic radar, audio loggers, trap cameras, tagging/marking, design of husbandry facilities, etc.) with native Texas species and in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. Primary conservation programs include the Puerto Rican crested toad, Puerto Rican harlequin butterfly, Virgin Islands boa, Chiricahua leopard frog, Houston toad, Texas horned lizard, Texas kangaroo rat, Pecos pupfish, Texas freshwater mussels and Louisiana pine snake.

Barber is also involved in the following conservation organizations:

Puerto Rican Crested Toad Conservancy, Founder/President

Texas Horned Lizard Conservation Coalition Co-founder/Co-coordinator