Come Experience KELT Untapped
Bath Brewing Company photo
KELT has a happy hour event with Bath Brewing Company!
When: Monday, June 18 at 5:30pm
Where: Bath Brewing Company
This informal chat will be a chance for folks to discuss topics they've been curious about with local experts, learn more, and have a beverage (or two).
At the second KELT Untapped, we will chat about Maine's turtles!
...Specifically the mysterious wood turtle. A species rarely seen but found throughout the state.
Juvenile wood turtle. Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
We're joined by Greg LeClair, Crew Leader for Wood Turtle Research at Unity College.
From Greg about his background studying turtles: I'm on my third official year of studying the Wood Turtle, a threatened species of turtle Mainers rarely see but is found throughout the state. It is currently proposed to be added to the endangered species list (currently not listed in the US, listed as a species of concern in Maine, and listed as endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The proposal is to add it to the national Endangered Species Act, and also to Maine's Endangered Species Act), so myself, my advisor, Dr. Matthew Chatfield, and a small crew have been surveying streams to find Wood Turtles, attach radio transmitters to them, and track them throughout the year. We study their habitat preferences and population size/dynamics with the information we get (which served as the basis for my undergrad thesis) This summer we are starting our first nesting survey season, where we'll be putting up trail cameras to monitor nest sites and find females.
I'm currently a crew leader on the project, and served as a technician on snake, salamander, and frog projects for my four years at Unity College, as well as a regional wildlife biologist intern at Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, sea turtle rescue in Cape Cod, and volunteered on some endangered herpetology projects in Mississippi a few years ago, including the Gopher Tortoise and the most endangered animal in North America, the Dusky Gopher Frog.
Helpful Links about Turtles from Greg:
Greg's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL_pRjrjyUFsMLeF_fGNAFg
About Unity's Wood Turtle study: https://bangordailynews.com/bdn-maine/community/unity-college-students-faculty-aid-maine-inland-fisheries-and-wildlife-in-years-long-turtle-study/
How to help turtles across roads:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4aPiN-kGYA
Maine Rare Reptile/Amphibian Species Reporting (download the PDF on the page): https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/wildlife/species-information/reptiles-amphibians/atlasing-project.html
Limited Space! Let us know you will be joining us by contacting KELT at 207-442-8400 or using the google form below:
Special thanks to our hosts
