LINCOLN, Neb. -- Dennis Ferraro will offer "Reflections of a Nebraska Herpetologist" – accompanied on stage by live snakes, other reptiles, and amphibians – at 7 p.m., Tuesday, October 13, in the Hardin Hall Auditorium, at 33rd and Holdrege. The talk will be free and open to the public.

Ferraro, the resident herpetologist at the School of Natural Resources of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, spends his summers crisscrossing the state, checking on the communities and populations of various species. He typically drives 3,000 to 4,000 miles each summer.

"I had a fantastic year in the field," Ferraro said. "I found the Blackhead Snake, the only snake I hadn't found in 25 or more years."

He shares the data he gathers on reptile and amphibian populations with the Nebraska State Museum, the Game and Parks Commission, and other agencies that need it. Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is using some of Ferraro's data in its decision-making process on whether to have the Northern Leopard Frog listed as an endangered species.

Ferraro found that the Northern Leopard Frog seems to be losing ground in the northern half of the state to the Plains Leopard Frog, even though the Game and Parks Commission in 2000 stopped allowing Northern Leopard Frogs to be captured and sold to biological supply companies.

Amphibians are particularly sensitive to environmental contaminants, and Ferraro's talk will touch on what researchers have discovered about frogs and herbicides in Nebraska. Some researchers believe that amphibians, with their sensitivity to environmental degradation, may also point the way to factors that lead to increased outbreaks of disease in humans.

Fortunately, Ferraro is also finding evidence that people understand environmental interconnections better. "It's more and more, 'What is this and what does it do?' We're getting away from 'What is this? Can it kill me?' We're moving more toward stewardship."