An up close picture of a hand holding a small red salamander resting on a piece of cardboard.
A red backed salamander peaks over a piece of cardboard that researcher Marisa Monroe uses to pick up wiggly amphibians.Photo: Trevor Grandin

Coastal Conversations Radio Program: Ferrying Frogs & Measuring Mice

March 27, 2025 Coastal Conversations

Coastal Conversations Show: 28 March 2025

Guest Host: Trevor Grandin, Cathy and Jim Gero Acadia Early Career Fellow in Science Communication, Schoodic Institute

This Episode

In this episode of Coastal Conversations, we feature Schoodic Institute’s podcast, Sea to Trees. We’re searching Acadia’s roads for amphibians in the dead of night and trapping small mammals in the park’s woods at the crack of dawn. Learn about two research projects seeking big answers to questions about the park’s smallest creatures. Help a spotted salamander cross the street and weigh a jumping mouse with two ecologists taking the pulse of Acadia National Park. We search for frogs with and learn from Acadia Science Fellow Marisa Monroe. Hear from author Ben Goldfarb about the dangers that roads pose to amphibians and other animals. We join Dr. Brittany Slabach, Second Century Stewardship Fellow and College of the Atlantic professor, in Schoodic Woods to trap small mammals and learn about her research. And we hear from Bik Wheeler, wildlife biologist in Acadia National Park, about how Marisa and Brittany’s projects could influence management in the park.

In a wooded environment, a person wearing black gloves, a blue jacket, and a pink hat holds a rodent by the nape and measures its tail.
Brittany Slabach, College of the Atlantic Professor and Second Century Stewardship Fellow, holds a red backed vole by the nape and measures the length of its tail.

Coastal Conversations is supported by Maine Sea Grant in partnership with Schoodic Institute and The First Coast.

Guests

Marisa Monroe, graduate student and Acadia Science Fellow, University of Maine
Ben Goldfarb, author
Dr. Brittany Slabach, professor and former Second Century Stewardship Fellow, College of the Atlantic

For more information

Maine Big Night

Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet by Ben Goldfarb

Little Box Project | Instagram

Effect of road traffic on amphibian density by Lenore Fahrig, et al.

Study finds salamanders are surprisingly abundant in northeastern forests

Listen to the show on WERU archives

More information about Coastal Conversations Radio Program