Blue Ridge Country January/February 2021 - 77

TOP: White-spotted salamander.
ABOVE: Blackbelly salamander.
RIGHT: Davenport scours the ponds and streams in his
backyard for salamanders, often with his three daughters.

nessee Aquarium Conservation Institute
in Chattanooga as an affiliate scientist,
in 2014 Davenport embarked on his first
teaching gig at Southeast Missouri State
University at the edge of the Ozark Mountains. Two years ago, he joined App State,
where he is known for his laidback, approachable style.
" I'm here to hopefully help [students]
succeed, " he says. " I'm pretty lenient with
most deadlines as long as we get a solid
reason. I like to have my door open so students can drop by at any time and I try
to be fairly casual and walk around and
do small-group work and brainstorm. Being accessible is really important for the
younger generations now. "
Not surprisingly, COVID-19 sidelined
several class projects. Last spring, just as
the students finished filling the fenced-

in, outdoor stock tanks with salamanders
from three states and were about to study
how the different populations responded
to pond drying, the university went into
lockdown.
" And then it all fell on me, " Davenport
quips. " I got a good workout because the
way that we mimic pond drying is to bail
out water. So my back got stronger, for
better or worse. "
To Davenport's disappointment, last
year's scheduled trek to the Arctic-part
of a nine-year study on the impact of
climate change on wood frogs-was also
sidetracked. At the edge of the boreal forest in northern Manitoba, the landscape
fades into mostly-flat, treeless tundra filled
with ponds where the adaptable amphibians freeze solid to protect themselves in
extremely cold temperatures. Because the

The amphibians were the most enticing,
and growing up near the Smokies I was
in amphibian heaven

permafrost there is melting at a faster rate
than elsewhere in the world, " drunken "
trees tip to the side.
" You also get to see beluga whales, polar bears, caribou, amazing shore birds, "
he says. " And there are three different indigenous tribes that come in there next to
the river that they can interact with, the
elders. It's just a bummer we didn't get to
go [in 2020]. "
For now, though, the admitted barbecue snob-he sometimes chooses a field
site for its proximity to a good pulled-pork
joint-is satisfied to scour the ponds and
streams in his back yard for salamanders
with his girls, Idabelle, age 5; Estalee, 8;
and Leoria, 10. (His wife Jenny, a biologist
specializing in bats and birds, also encourages their scientific exploration.)
" We found nine species at our house
here and there's an open challenge to my
three daughters to find a 10th one, " says
Davenport. " And there's a prize. "
To Blue Ridge residents lucky enough
to discover salamanders on their hikes
through the woods, Davenport urges,
" [Flipping logs] to look for them is great
because that's how you can appreciate
some of these guys. But make sure you put
their home back. "

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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Blue Ridge Country January/February 2021

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