CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

Herpetologist Emma A Browning is using social media to create awareness about reptiles and amphibians, and the human impact on their lives

- Manvi Pant

When Emma A Browning was a five-year-old growing up on a cattle ranch in Texas, her elder sister – who was in high school at the time and later became a biologist – taught her a startling fact. “She told me that frogs and toads use their eyeballs to help swallow food. I thought that was the grossest coolest thing I had ever heard,” says Emma, explaining what triggered her curiosity in biological sciences.

Today, Emma, 27, is a herpetologist who has set out to raise awareness about how rapidly changing climatic conditions are posing a serious threat to ectotherms (amphibians and reptiles), which are some of the longest living species on this planet. A researcher at the University of Georgia, she is studying the suitability of releasing confiscated turtles from illegal pet trade back into the wild.

Nature had an influence on Emma from an early age. She grew up exploring large tracts of lands where her father kept their cattle in the sunny little Texan town of Channing, with a population of just 363. Observing her growing interest in little creatures, her teachers often allowed her to bring tadpoles in class to see them turn into frogs.

A detailed exploration gave her a good understanding of how competitive the field of herpetology was, and so to stay in the game, she enrolled herself in several conservation and management projects right after school. “I was particularly interested in amphibians and reptiles, so I assisted with the re-introduction of gopher tortoises and the reticulated flatwoods salamander. This involved restoring their habitat by using chainsaws and prescribed burns to help the ecosystem return to its natural state. I also helped with rearing larval flatwoods salamanders to release them back into the wild,” she narrates.