Dr. Melissa Coakley is an avid naturalist and field herper. The SPC professor spends her free time studying and working with reptiles and amphibians. She’s always up for a hike in one of Florida’s beautiful parks. In addition, she enjoys traveling around the USA and visiting places in Central and South America to look for different species in the wild.
She is the current faculty advisor for the Clearwater Ethics in Action Club.
One reason I am passionate about ethics is that ethical questions, ideas, and actions are all around us in various elements of life. We encounter a great deal of ethical concerns each day in regard to the sciences and our environment.
Field herping
Living in Florida, I developed a love for wildlife. My interests specifically lean toward herpetology. Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians. I work with several different species personally but also enjoy traveling to see these animals in their native habitats. When people search for reptiles and amphibians in the wild it is referred to as “field herping.”
Field herpers like to take photographs of the species they find and often have life lists they compile to keep track of every creature they have encountered. This pastime can present some ethical dilemmas because, in certain cases, it involves disturbing animals and the native habitat of those animals.
Non-native wildlife
In Florida, we must deal with issues related to non-native wildlife because our environment is welcoming for such a wide variety of species. For example, there are established populations of Burmese pythons in South Florida and Argentine tegus in Hillsborough County. What is our ethical duty related to the non-native wildlife?
This problem extends even further when one considers the non-native plants and fish that are currently thriving in the state.
I discuss this as well as other aspects related to field herping ethics – including habitat destruction, handling wild specimens, and taking species from the wild – in an article in HerpHouseMag.
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