This cache is part of an occasional series about Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The cache is not located at the posted coordinates; it is hidden at the base of a tree. Since Frogs are the hiding theme for caches right now it seemed only fitting to have a frog-themed Women in STEM cache.
Frogs are part of the Kingdom Animalia, the Phylum Chordata, the Class Amphibia and the Order Anura. They can be any color including green, brown, red, orange, blue and yellow (so Kermit's song "It's Not Easy Being Green" might not apply to all frogs).
The scientists who study frogs are herpetologists…..yes, the same as the name of the scientists who study reptiles. Here’s some information about some herpetologists you’ve likely never heard of.
Marion Anstis is an Australian herpetologist whose work focuses on frogs and tadpoles found in Australia. The genus Anstisia, a genus of West Australian frog, was named in her honor.
Rose Marie Antionette Blommers-Schlösser, a Dutch herpetologist and entomologist, studied frogs of Madagascar. The frog genus Blommersia was named for her.
Patricia A. Burrowes Gomez had studied frogs in Puerto Rico and Colombia. She specializes in amphibian population dynamics.
Janalee P. Caldwell studied tree frogs for her doctoral dissertation. She is a member of the Cherokee Nation and was Curator of Amphibians at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (she’s now Curator Emeritus).
Teresa Camacho Badani is a Bolivian biologist known for her work preserving the Sehuencas water frog, the Titicaca water frog, and the Bolivian Cochran frog. She leads the K’ayra Center which houses and breeds endangered frogs. Check out her Wikipedia page for information about the frogs Romeo and Juliet (yes, that’s what they were named).
Alison Cree, a New Zealand herpetologist, wrote a thesis about the endemic New Zealand frogs Leiopelma archeyi.
Margaret M. Davies is an Australian herpetologist. She studied Australian frogs and identified over 30 new species of frogs. The frog species Litoria daviessae is named for her.
Jessica Hua is an American herpetologist who has studied wood frogs. Her lab focuses on understanding the impact of chemicals on aquatic systems.
Karen Lips is an American biologist. Her doctoral research studied the population ecology of Isthmohyla calpysa, a tree frog found only in the Talamancan mountains of Costa Rica.
Niane Sivongxay is a Laotian zoologist/herpetologist. She has helped name three frog species: Limnonectes coffeatus, Limnonectes savan, and Theloderma lacustrinum.
Annemarie Ohler is an Austrian herpetologist. Her dissertation focused on the larval development of the pond frog Pelophylax kl. Esculentus. She specializes in the families of the Asian toad frog (Megophyidae) and the true tree frog (Ranidae), especially for species from tropical Asia and Africa.
Lily O. Rodriguez is a Peruvian herpetologist whose doctoral dissertation studied the frog community of Cocha Cachu Manú National Park, Peru.
Erica Bree Rosenblum is an American herpetologist whose research focuses on the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis that has caused high mortality and near extinction in some frog species.
Jodi Rowley is an Australian herpetologist. One of her current projects is to search for the Peppered tree frog. She is the chief scientist for the FrogID app which uses citizen science to collect data about Australian frogs.
Josefa Celsa Señaris is a Venezuelan herpetologist. The genus of glass frog Celsiella is named after her nickname which is “Celsi.”
Now for the puzzle: The cache can be found at N45 AB.CDE W122 FG.HIJ
Let A = the number of lobes on a frog’s liver
Let B = the number of chambers in a frog's heart, minus one
Let C = the number of legs on a frog
Let D = the number of lungs a frog has at birth
Let E = the number of stomachs a frog has
Let F = the number of toes on a frog’s front foot (foot…not feet)
Let G = the number of eyelids on a frog’s eye
Let H = the total number of toes on a frog minus ten
Let I = the number of external ears on a frog
Let J = the number of pairs of lungs an adult frog has
This cache complies with the geocaching policies for Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) properties. Please respect park hours when caching. The cache can be retrieved without either foot leaving the trail.