{"id":27743,"date":"2024-01-28T16:12:21","date_gmt":"2024-01-28T20:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=27743"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:24:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T02:24:54","slug":"help-the-hellbender-team-honored-as-friends-of-conservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/help-the-hellbender-team-honored-as-friends-of-conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Help the Hellbender Team Honored as Friends of Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hellbender<\/a>Dr. Rod Williams, extension wildlife specialist Nick Burgmeier and the Help the Hellbender team were\u00a0honored for their collaboration with partners, outreach to the community and awareness education with the 2023\u00a0Indiana Friend of Conservation Award<\/a>\u00a0on January 9 in Indianapolis. The award, sponsored by Brownfield Ag News and presented by the\u00a0Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts<\/a>\u00a0(IASWCD) at its annual Conservation Awards Luncheon, recognizes individuals of entities who have made an outstanding contribution to soil and water conservation in Indiana. State level honorees are named in the corporate, individual and nonprofit\/government categories.<\/p>\n

Burgmeier and Eliza Hudson, the\u00a0Farmers Helping Hellbenders<\/a>\u00a0Project Coordinator for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, accepted the award on the Help the Hellbender team\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

The team was nominated for the state level award in the nonprofit\/government category by virtue of receiving the Washington County Soil & Water Conservation District\u2019s\u00a0Friend of Conservation Award<\/a>\u00a0in February.<\/p>\n

The eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis<\/em>) is a large, fully aquatic salamander,\u00a0nicknamed the snot otter, water dog, devil dog, Allegheny alligator and water eel among other things. Their decline statewide has been documented as far back as the early-to-mid 1900s as a result of habitat loss and poor water quality. Hellbenders play an important role in aquatic ecosystems and are indicators of clean water.
\n\"hellbender<\/a><\/p>\n

For much of the last 17 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. The partnership had a major breakthrough over the summer with the\u00a0documentation of a young hellbender salamander<\/a>\u00a0in the Blue River while conducting routine surveys. This discovery is significant because over the past three to four decades, only adult hellbenders have been documented in the Blue River. The presence of a young salamander suggests that conservation efforts and rearing programs are accomplishing their goals for the recovery of this endangered species.<\/p>\n

The Help the 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 teachers<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0children,\u00a0farmers<\/a>\u00a0and more.<\/p>\n

To see the full article please visit the\u00a0FNR News & Stories page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Resources:
\n<\/strong>Help the Hellbender website<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Help the Hellbender Facebook page<\/a>
\nAsk the Expert: Learn All About Hellbenders and Take a Tour<\/a>, Subscribe Purdue Extension \u2013 Forestry & Natural Resources (FNR) YouTube Channel
\nAsk the Expert video:\u00a0Help the Hellbender \u2013 Dr. Stephen Spear of The Wilds<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nAsk the Expert video:\u00a0Live with Mesker Park Zoo and Botanical Gardens \u2013 Hellbenders<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nA Moment in the Wild video:\u00a0Hellbender Hide<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 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 \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nEastern Hellbender ID Video<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nHellbenders Rock!<\/a>, The Education Store, Purdue Extension\u2019s resource center
\nHelp the Hellbender, North America\u2019s 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 \u2013 Lesson Plan<\/a>, The Education Store
\nPurdue Expert: Hellbender Salamander<\/a>, Purdue University News YouTube Channel
\nFNR Assists in First Natural Breeding of Eastern Hellbender in Captivity<\/a>, Purdue FNR News & Stories
\nHelping the Hellbender: Mesker Park Zoo Begins Captive Breeding Efforts<\/a>, Purdue Agriculture News<\/p>\n

Wendy Mayer<\/a>, FNR Communications Coordinator
\nPurdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources<\/p>\n

Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts<\/a>\u00a0(IASWCD)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Rod Williams, extension wildlife specialist Nick Burgmeier and the Help the Hellbender team were\u00a0honored for their collaboration with partners, outreach to the community and awareness education with the 2023\u00a0Indiana Friend of Conservation Award\u00a0on January 9 in Indianapolis. The award, sponsored by Brownfield Ag News and presented by the\u00a0Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,79,54],"tags":[1915,196,1914,1560,72],"class_list":["post-27743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aquaculturefish","category-aqua","category-wildlife","tag-cryptobranchus-alleganiensis","tag-hellbender","tag-indiana-association-of-soil-and-water-conservation-districts","tag-purdue-forestry-and-natural-resources","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\/27743","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\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27743"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35606,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27743\/revisions\/35606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}