Melanoma Surveillance

According to the CDC, in 2015 the rate of melanoma of the skin was 22.1 per 100 thousand people, the sixth most common cancer. In Vermont this rate was 35.8 per 100 thousand, higher than the national average. In Berlin, VT, it was noted that patients often are concerned about their nevi, but often do not know when it is appropriate to bring them to their physician\u27s attention. A pamphlet was developed to assist physicians in educating patients on the characteristics of melanocytic nevi and encourage patients to speak to their physician when they find moles which meet these characteristics.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1512/thumbnail.jp

Effects of prescribed fire on Cope’s Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) across habitat scales and life stages

Fire may alter both aquatic and terrestrial habitat used by all amphibian life stages, yet, our knowledge of its effects on amphibians is primarily limited to adult responses. I present an integrated approach to test the response of Cope’s Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) to fire by examining responses in tadpole performance and survivorship, adult abundance, and oviposition. Tadpoles raised with burned leaf litter had similar survival, but total mass and total length were 440% and 170% greater, respectively, for tadpoles raised in unburned litter. I assessed terrestrial and aquatic oviposition cues by embedding burned and unburned litter treatments within burned and unburned terrestrial plots. Oviposition was an order of magnitude higher in unburned plots, regardless of the litter treatment. This difference was not statistically significant or driven by adult abundance. My results indicate the need to explore the dynamic effects forest management practices can have on amphibians across life stages