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Andrew Connolly

@andrewmc2401.bsky.social
616 followers 467 following 63 posts

Wildlife Biologist, herpetologist, educator, Masters in Biology student at Miami U Project Dragonfly He/Him

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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Another great conference- the American Association of Zookeepers 2026 conference in Tacoma, Washington. Great weather, great people, and a great opportunity to network and share my research on Eastern Hellbender behavior and the importance of time budgets. (P.S. The Mountain is Out) 🌎 #AAZK2026
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It of course was also great to be back on a boat on the water, and to take in the world around me. Nothing beats the sound of waves, a cool coastal breeze, and sunsets on the water! (2/2)
A sunset pictured through a boats doorway. People stand on the boats now in full shadow, with orange, blue and yellow light crossing the cloud filled sky above them. A pink and purple sunset slips through clouds above shadow clouded trees and gently rolling waves on a river. A golden orange sunset reflects in an almost smooth river, with clouds dotting the sky above.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
450,000. That's the estimated number of tree swallows we observed this past weekend migrating down the Connecticut River. The radar picking up a flock over 1/2 mile long, and the sky was filled for over 40 minutes. it was a sight to be seen and a reminder to go lights out at night this fall! 🌎(1/2)
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
A great out of office to present at NEPARC 2026 in the adirondacks. Nothing beats ancient mountains, and science talks, while sharing my research on Eastern Hellbender behavior under human care. Up north the hills breathe, as clouds rise from the trees, and the calls of loons fill the air. 🧪🐸🌎
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Adding on a new project! Help ID trail camera photos in the new "We Can Coexist" community science project. Check out the thousands of photos collected and mark down the species and where it is found in the photo. Its a great way to spend a five minute break! 🧪 www.zooniverse.org/projects/sun...
zooniverse.org
We Cam Coexist | Zooniverse - People-powered research
In just a few minutes YOU can support our wildlife coexistence research by documenting coyotes and their wild neighbors!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Thank you! I love that you had him on the porch. That was his favorite spot to sleep in the afternoon and wait for the staff to come home. Also for the animal lovers out there, Newton was the BEST island dog. Consider making a donation in his honor: (perhaps $14?) ohioseagrant.osu.edu/giving
ohioseagrant.osu.edu
Giving
Your gift to Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory, confers membership to the Friends of Stone Laboratory (FOSL).
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
He was a mix! I was a 2022 field station assistant and he was quite the distinguished gentleman! The best coworker I could ask for it's been so lovely seeing all the people who have loved him and met him, particularly those I never knew connected with him.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Is this a publically visible mural? I'd love to check it out!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Right?! The best smiles!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
After two years I wrapped my observations exploring Eastern Hellbender behavior and spatial use under human care. Keep an eye out over the coming months for more updates on results as I work through the data, but in the meantime enjoy photos of these very cute creatures! 🐸🧪
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Biophobia- people are scared of the wild from nature disconnect and want to strip it and urbanize it to make it more familiar of a setting. Let me know what other questions you may have! Happy to answer more questions.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Great question! Thank you for asking. Deregulation- there has been a big push on this admin to strip down the law and government regulation Short term profit- they want to remove protections as much as they can to open for industrial extraction for short term profit, not considering long term.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
And there are lots of organizations around the country with similar pages set up or you can reach out independently to your legislators. Your voice matters and there a variety of ways to use it!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
The House is preparing to vote on a bill that would strip down the protections offered by the Endangered Species Act and severely deplete our nation's hallmark piece of environmental legislation. Speak up and speak out such as through the link below. 🌎🧪 engage.nywolf.org/site/Advocac...
engage.nywolf.org
Take Action to Protect the Endangered Species Act - Wolf Conservation Center
Given that science has concluded that we have entered an unprecedented period of human-caused Sixth Mass extinction, we need to make every effort to help imperiled species heal and flourish.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
I'd also see if your area has a City Nature Challenge and submitting your wildlife sightings to INaturalist, to help support research using those data sets!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
For those local to the two project locations above, they cover urban, suburban and rural settings, recognizing reduced abundance in urban spaces. Where access is limited in urban settings, i'm excited for an upcoming launch of a photo idID project on zooniverse! Stay tuned for details to come.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
They're such cool and underappreciated animals!! And definitely need our help.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Let's make some science happen in 2026! 🌎🧪 If you have any questions about any of these projects, feel free to comment or message me directly.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Are you in Westchester County, NY, Fairfield County, CT, Gwinnett County, GA, or Cameron Parish, LA? Join the Cultivating Canid Coexistence project! When you see wildlife, take a note and report your sighting within those areas via the link below. storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/592a...
storymaps.arcgis.com
Cultivating Canid Coexistence (C3)
WCC-IECL's C3 program supports human-canid coexistence through seasonal wildlife monitoring and public outreach.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
CT People! 🐸 The FrogWatch season is here! Best time of the year! Sign up to volunteer and listen to frogs in and near your home. Join one of the largest chapters in the nation and in just 5 minutes a night help out your local frogs and roads. Click here to sign up: frogwatch26.givesmart.com
frogwatch26.givesmart.com
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
New Year, new opportunities to get involved in community science ! Calling all community members, ecologists and anyone who spends time outdoors. Check out this thread for #communityscience opportunities for 2026. Fellow scientists feel free to add on your own projects to this thread.
facebook.com
Redirecting...
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
for themselves and their team, please feel free to message me! I've got a limited number of free presentations I can deliver for in house learning or team professional development. Questions? Send me a message! #herpetology
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Hellbenders!!! If anyone is looking for a FREE presentation about Eastern Hellbenders or Eastern Hellbender Behavior under Human Care OR is interested in a FREE presentation on how to better communicate about less charismatic and under loved species using applied conservation psychology (1/2)
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Pam McElwee @pammcelwee.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Only a few days left to comment on the proposed EPA Endangerment finding (Sept 22)! YOU TOO can do it - I submitted comment that DOE report EPA is relying on is flawed, particularly re: ecosystem impacts that cascade into human health & welfare. Pls add yours! www.regulations.gov/commenton/EP...
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Society for Conservation Biology @society4conbio.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Today is the last day to submit your comment!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Happy Salamander Saturday from the Eastern Hellbender. Enjoy these photos of one of my favorite animals. They are currently up for potential listing under the United States Endangered Species Act due to a variety of threats. #herpetology 🌎
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
As weather continues to warm this spring amphibians are coming out and migrating in great volumes! Sharing two really cool radio shows from CT Public Radio about the "Big Night" and amphibian conservation in CT! 🐸 www.ctpublic.org/2025-04-24/a... www.ctpublic.org/show/where-w...
ctpublic.org
Amphibians' migration routines are getting more difficult. These brigades are trying to help
Cars and climate change have made life harder for key species that provide nutrients for creatures all around New England and sequester carbon in soil.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
The US has proposed changing the language and definiton, and rescinding the regulation of harm for the Endangered Species Act, significantly reducing protections to wildlife and ecosystems. Public comments can be made via the link below! Please share and comment! www.regulations.gov/commenton/FW...
regulations.gov
Regulations.gov
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Free event! CT, USA folks join me and my colleagues for a night of FrogWatching in the field and learn about the diverse species of Connecticut. This event is hosted by the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary. See the link for more information. 🐸 www.cvhfoundation.org/event/frogwa...
cvhfoundation.org
FROGWATCH USA - FREE EVENT - Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary
This event has been rescheduled to April 25th due to the cold temperatures. Date: Friday, April 25th  Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm Cost: FREE All ages welcome (ALL children 12 and under must be accompanied b...
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Sharing some photo highlights today to remind us all of the amazing biodiversity of our planet! Enjoy the Blue-Tongued Skink, Red Panda, Mexican Flame Leg Tarantula, and American Bison and take some time today to soak up nature.
Blue-Tongued Skink laying on a basking platform. Tufts of grass line the back wall and left wall, with a shelf above them. A red panda sleeps on a platform with one paw dangling below.A Mexican flame leg Tarantula, with bright orange legs, climbs across tufts of grassAn American Bison sits in a field of snow.
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Phil Levin @phillevin.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Sea Grant is a powerhouse for coastal communities! Through research, education, and outreach, it helps protect marine ecosystems, support sustainable fisheries, and boost coastal economies. Sea Grant keeps our waters and communities thriving. We need sea grant! www.pressherald.com/2025/03/01/m...
pressherald.com
Maine Sea Grant in jeopardy after Trump administration terminates $4.5 million grant program
The move to discontinue the four-year agreement — which comes amid the White House's efforts to slash the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's budget — leaves the fishery organization’s p...
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Working for Ohio Sea Grant and seeing their amazing work was one of the highlights of my career. They complete phenomenal work, and NOAA is integral to that. Please support NOAA and their work, and write to your Congress people / vote for science.
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Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
NOAA's #GreatLakes Environmental Research Lab will be taking an "indefinite hiatus" from communications due to staff cuts. GLERL communicates critical weekly updates about the extent of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie - like the one that left my hometown of Toledo without drinking water in 2014
A screenshot of a Facebook post from the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Science (and science policy, and conservation) friends, I need your help! We are collecting *specific, clear* examples of harms caused by the Trump administration's attacks on science, to be included in an open letter. Can be links to news stories/social media posts. 🧪🦑🌎 #SciComm #SciPol
The Trump administration’s attacks on scientific funding, restrictions on Federal scientist activities, and 
indiscriminate firing have caused chaos, panic, and harm.

We need *specific* examples of harms caused 
by these policies to include in an open letter. 
Grants cut, projects cancelled, jobs lost.

Feel free to send news stories, blog posts, or social media posts that mention these, as well as original contributions. 

Please send to WhySharksMatter @ gmail or DM me
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Professor Jodie Rummer @physiologyfish.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
"Now is the time for science, not silence." The war on science isn’t just politics, it’s our planet's future & the stakes have never been higher.🦈🪸🌊 As climate scientists, we must advocate & defend evidence-based policy.📄🌏 #ClimateAction #ScienceMatters www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @science.org
science.org
Scientists as political advocates
Science, both teaching and doing, is under attack. The recent US presidential election of a person and platform with anti-science bias exemplifies this. The study of climate processes and patterns and...
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Connecticut herp enthusiasts! This is your time to shine! Join me for a FrogWatch training in February or March and learn about the frogs and toads of CT and how to ID them! Then help support research efforts by observing them this spring and summer. 🐸💚 www.beardsleyzoo.org/frog-watch.h...
beardsleyzoo.org
FrogWatch
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo invites residents to become Citizen-Scientist volunteers and participate in a “FrogWatch” census in area wetlands. In a collaboration between the Zoo, The Maritime...
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
Also check out some cool links below about reintroductions! Ohio has some great programs going on with different universities studying the populations and reintroductions alongside the Columbus Zoo. 2/2 esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... www.columbuszoo.org/raising-hell...
esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Restoring eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus a. alleganiensis) populations through translocation of headstarted individuals
We provide the first survival estimates and population projections for building eastern hellbender populations via headstarting. We show that, while survival post-release is low (0.16 over 3 years po...
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
Hellbenders are highly reliant on specific environmental conditions, which is one reason they are seeing population declines (habitat loss and degradation). I would NOT recommend them as pets for multiple reasons. Also a state listed species in numerous states, every individual counts! 1/2
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
There is no official answer, but one common theory is due to their appearance they are a creature that crawled from hell, and is hell bent on returning! Check out this cool article from Zoo Atlanta! zooatlanta.org/hail-the-hel....
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Eastern Hellbenders have been proposed for listing under the ESA! Please check out the listing proposal below, including a section for public comment. They are threatened by a variety of anthropogenic actions and need our support. 🐸🧪🌎 www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Would love to be added, working on my M.A. in biological sciences :) thank you!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Mother anteaters are such great parents and protectors for sure!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Feeling Thankful this week to work at an institution supporting remarkable species such as the Giant Anteater, a vulnerable species. It is important to protect our wild places, and support species in need. Check out the baby on Mom's back, and how their stripes line up to aid in camouflage! 🌎
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
I would love to be added! Thank you :)
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Hi! Would I be able to be added to this? I am an early career ecologist and graduate student. Thank you!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 03/11/2024
Reintroducing myself here as I work to move everything over. Hi everyone! I'm a wildlife biologist and herpetologist with a passion for scientific communication and community science. I'm a graduate student pursuing an M.A. in biological sciences while working as a zoo educator. Go science!
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 01/08/2024
Pickerel Frog Galore! Two more in a day and they just keep coming. Keep an eye out for the little guys when you're out and about. 🐸
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 25/07/2024
Today I get to assist in one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I assisted in a quadruple seal release, the largest in the state of CT, with the largest crowd ever observed at a Mystic Aquarium Animal Rescue release. Check out the amazing success stories! www.fox61.com/article/life...
fox61.com
'That second chance at life': 4 rehabbed seal pups released at Hammonasset
Four seal pups have a new lease on life after being released into the waters of Hammonasset Beach State Park Thursday morning.
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 24/07/2024
Two frogs stopping by in a week! Hoppy summer everyone. 🐸
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Andrew Connolly @andrewmc2401.bsky.social · 01/05/2024
I am excited to announce the publication of my first, first-author paper, "Anuran Community Occupancy Dynamics in Wayne National Forest in Southeast, Ohio, USA" with Dr. Viorel Popescu. #herps🧪🐸 www.herpconbio.org/Volume_19/Is...
herpconbio.org
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