Hope for Hellbenders

Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Bunting

Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences
Sponsor: Temper of the Times Foundation Inc.
Title: Hope for Hellbenders
Project Amount: $10,000
Project Period: February 2018 to January 2019

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 

We will produce (5) high quality short films, to be accessible on our website and social media platforms and promoted though the university communications office. We will use our research on eastern hellbender salamanders to draw attention to challenges facing wild amphibian populations. As hellbenders (and amphibians in general) are indicators of environmental health and water quality, the primary message of these films will be that protecting amphibians is in the best interests of all. We would like to test the response to different versions of the films in different age groups and demographics, which will be done by Qualtrics surveys in partnership with our Human Dimensions Research Unit faculty in the Department of Natural Resources, Cornell.