Nomination Statement for Dr. C. Kenneth Dodd, Recipient of the Florida Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s 2020 Paul Moler Herpetological Conservation Award

C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr. earned his degrees at University of Kentucky, Arizona State, and Clemson. Most of his career was with the U.S. Department of Interior, first with the Office of Endangered Species, a research division of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. During this time (1976–1984), he secured federal protection for 40 species. He then transferred to the U.S. Geological Survey and retired from the USGS in early 2007. Ken is currently Courtesy Associate Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. He has published more than 200 papers, reviews, and books, mostly on turtle and amphibian ecology and conservation. Ken belongs to myriad professional organizations, serving in many capacities including President and VP of The Herpetologists League. He is the current book review editor for SSAR’s Herpetological Review.

In 1984, Ken relocated from Washington DC to Gainesville for a research position at the USGS Southeast Ecological Science Center. There, he became one of his agency’s most productive herpetologists, carrying out definitive studies of an impressive list of endangered reptiles and amphibians, including the Amargosa Toad (Bufo nelsoni), the Red Hills Salamander (Phaeognathus hubrichti; the Striped Newt (Notophthalmus perstriatus), the Flattened Musk Turtle (Sternotherus depressus), and the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). Ken also found time to study the ecology of several additional Florida species and communities including temporary pond herpetofauna, the Black Swamp Snake (Seminatrix pygaea), two toads, (Bufo quercicus) & (B. terrestris), and the Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis).

Unfortunately, U.S. Route 441 slices Payne’s Prairie State Preserve near Gainesville. For the Florida Department of Transportation, Ken with others, studied ways to alleviate the carnage to snakes and other small animals. A long-term project on the population biology of the Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri) on Egmont Key in Tampa Bay led to a well-received book published by 2001 University of Oklahoma Press: North American Box Turtles: A Natural History.

Ken was proud to serve as Project Leader for the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) in the Southeast, considering it the most important national amphibian research project ever undertaken.

Perhaps ARMI inspired him to expand his geographic range and produce Frogs of the United States and Canada, published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2013. The next year, The Wildlife Society chose his two-volume 1000-page “bible” for its Wildlife Publication Award. Prominent Southeastern herpetologist and prolific author Whit Gibbons declared it, "The best frog book ever written."

Ken recently turned 70, so he has now spent half of his exemplary life in Florida. Not long ago he wrote, “It has been an interesting ride, one not over yet.” Next spring in Jacksonville, when the herps become more active, please honor his career so far and encourage his continued research and writing.

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Much of the above is adapted from:
Biographical Sketch and Bibliography of C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr., Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service. Number 149. 2016