Dr. Kimberly Terrell holds an eastern hellbender caught during a stream survey in southwest Virginia. Photo by JD Kleopfer.

​Eastern hellbenders are one of the largest amphibians on the planet. They require cool, fast flowing streams and rivers with high levels of oxygen to breathe. Changes in temperature can affect not only levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, but may invoke changes to the hellbender’s immune system as well. In this podcast, our guest host, Emily McCallen, with the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, will be interviewing Dr. Kimberly Terrell about how variability in water temperatures may increase immune function in these giant salamanders.