{"id":21242,"date":"2023-02-24T15:39:38","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T19:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=21242"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:28:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T02:28:05","slug":"help-the-hellbender-program-receives-hoosier-outdoor-writers-conservation-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/help-the-hellbender-program-receives-hoosier-outdoor-writers-conservation-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Help the Hellbender Program Receives Hoosier Outdoor Writers Conservation Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Help the Hellbender team, led by Dr. Rod Williams, professor of wildlife science, has been honored by the\u00a0Hoosier Outdoor Writers<\/a>\u00a0group with its 2022 Bayou Bill Conservation Award.<\/p>\n

The annual conservation award is given in memory of the legendary Crothersville, Indiana, outdoor writer Bayou Bill Scifres, who was a founding member of HOW in 1969, and had his outdoors column published in\u00a0The Indianapolis Star<\/em>\u00a0newspaper for 50 years.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe Hoosier Outdoor Writers group was introduced to Dr. Rod Williams in 2019 when he came to our annual conference and talked to us about his work with hellbenders and the Help the Hellbenders program,\u201d Tom Berg, Executive Director of HOW, explained. \u201cOur members were very interested in learning more about hellbender conservation and restoration, and also about his involvement with captive breeding and propagation efforts across the state. It was interesting to us to hear that Purdue University, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and other groups were working together on management plans to re-introduce and re-populate hellbenders throughout much of their historical range. This is exactly the type of conservation story that our members like to hear and relate to their audiences. It also aligns very well with our strong belief in the conservation of Indiana\u2019s natural resources, so choosing Dr. Williams and the \u201cHelp the Hellbenders\u201d program for this award was an easy task.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"hellbender<\/a>For much of the last 16 years, Williams\u00a0and his team have been researching\u00a0eastern hellbenders<\/a>, spearheading regional conservation efforts and advancing hellbender captive propagation, or the rearing of this ancient animal in captivity and their eventual return to the wild.<\/p>\n

After\u00a0five years of breeding efforts<\/a>, Williams\u2019 partners at the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville, Indiana, successfully bred eastern hellbenders naturally in captivity\u00a0in\u00a0October 2020<\/a>, signifying the culmination of a long and collaborative effort to breed the species and restore this endangered species to its native environment.<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 hellbender lab is actively collaborating with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife and The Nature Conservancy as well as several other partners across 13 states on a number of conservation projects and educational opportunities for\u00a0teachers<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0children,\u00a0farmers<\/a>\u00a0and more.<\/p>\n

For full article with additional photos view: Help the Hellbender Program Receives Hoosier Outdoor Writers Conservation Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Resources
\n<\/strong>Help the Hellbender website<\/a>
\nHelp the Hellbender Facebook page<\/a>
\nAsk the Expert: Learn All About Hellbenders and Take a Tour<\/a>, Subscribe Purdue Extension – Forestry & Natural Resources (FNR) YouTube Channel
\nAsk the Expert video:\u00a0Help the Hellbender \u2013 Dr. Stephen Spear of The Wilds<\/a>, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
\nAsk the Expert video:\u00a0Live with Mesker Park Zoo and Botanical Gardens \u2013 Hellbenders<\/a>, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
\nA Moment in the Wild video:\u00a0Hellbender Hide<\/a>, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
\nA Moment in the Wild video:\u00a0Release Moment of Hellbenders<\/a>,
\nHow Anglers and Paddlers Can Help the Hellbender video<\/a>, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
\nEastern Hellbender ID Video<\/a>, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
\nHellbenders Rock!<\/a>, The Education Store, Purdue Extension’s resource center
\nHelp the Hellbender, North America’s Giant Salamander<\/a>, The Education Store
\nHow Our Zoos Help Hellbenders<\/a>, The Education Store
\nThe Nature of Teaching:\u00a0Adaptations for Aquatic Amphibians<\/a>, The Education Store
\nHealthy Water, Happy Home – Lesson Plan<\/a>, The Education Store
\nFNR Assists in First Natural Breeding of Eastern Hellbender in Captivity<\/a>, Purdue FNR News & Stories<\/p>\n

Wendy Mayer<\/a>, FNR Communications Coordinator
\nPurdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Help the Hellbender team, led by Dr. Rod Williams, professor of wildlife science, has been honored by the\u00a0Hoosier Outdoor Writers\u00a0group with its 2022 Bayou Bill Conservation Award. The annual conservation award is given in memory of the legendary Crothersville, Indiana, outdoor writer Bayou Bill Scifres, who was a founding member of HOW in 1969, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,54],"tags":[196,232,1564,912,634,72],"class_list":["post-21242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aquaculturefish","category-wildlife","tag-hellbender","tag-help-the-hellbender","tag-purdue-extension-forestry-and-natural-resources","tag-salamanders","tag-snot-otter","tag-wildlife","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21242"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35607,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21242\/revisions\/35607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}