Dedicated to the study of vertebrate ecology in the Pacific Northwest
Society for Northwestern
Vertebrate Biology
Welcome
The Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology is the longest running scientific association devoted to the study of vertebrate ecology in the Pacific Northwest. Our society strives to promote professional working relationships among ornithologists, mammalogists, herpetologists, and ichthyologists in our region.
Please explore our website and be sure to check out our flagship publication, Northwestern Naturalist. If you share our passion for learning about the natural history and ecology of the Pacific Northwest consider attending our annual meeting, a great place to meet new people while learning about research that is currently being conducted in our region. Learn more.
The 2025 Joint Annual Meeting is a partnership with the Washington Chapter of The Wildlife Society (WATWS), The Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology (SNVB) and Northwest Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NWPARC).
This joint meeting will cover the latest advancements in wildlife habitat connectivity, waterfowl research and management, pollinator conservation, herpetofaunal diseases, turtle conservation and research, forest landscape management, updates on the status of imperiled species, and more!
You can look forward to engaging plenary speakers, a comprehensive technical program, hands-on workshops, field trips to local conservation projects, ample networking opportunities, and more!
Photo of the Month
Last of the Puget Sound’s Pond Turtle
This female NW Pond Turtle is one of the few remaining in the Puget Trough. Currently this species is listed as endangered in Washington State and is being evaluated for ESA protections by the USFWS.
June 2020 Straits of Juan de Fuca
Nothing like a nice saltwater snorkel to drown the chaos of the world out. Sandlance, perch, greenling, clingfish, gunnels, and California sea lions (and a host of amazing invertebrates we won’t mention here) bobbed along with the pulse… Read More
August 2018 (Jamie’s excuse for a missed a board meeting)
I had planned to make the 1600 call on Thursday, August 24th, but I had a longer field day than planned. Volunteered for Green Diamond’s herp crew doing a two-day turtle dive on the Mad River….this was year… Read More
August 2016
This beauty of an Oregon Spotted Frog was found near Little Lava Lake, OR on August 20, 2016. The photo comes courtesy of Vernon Wolf who took this picture while surveying with Jay Bowerman of Sun River Nature Nature Center. … Read More
July 2016
Paul Hendricks took several photos of this cooperative fledgling Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch near the summit of Scapegoat Mountain in Montana (on the Continental Divide) in July 2007. The youngster was digesting the meal its parents had just delivered.
May 2016
Dark male western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) was basking on an eroded hill on the Mt Wilson trail in Sierra Madre, California on May 14th, 2016. Photo by Sonny Sluiter. Another image of the same lizard:
November
This Common Murre (Uria aalge) was observed enjoying a sunny late November (22nd) day in the waters behind the extensive bull kelp beds of Freshwater Bay just west of the mouth of the newly transformed Elwha River mouth…. Read More
October
Thirty-one years ago, on October 16th 1984, Forest Service wildlife biologist (and future longtime SNVB member and contributor) Keith Aubry was checking pitfall traps in a stand of old-growth Douglas-fir and western redcedar southeast of Packwood, Washington when… Read More
September
This video from Ranger Ryan, The National Park Service and California State Parks was first published to youtube on September 24th, 2015:
August
This image of a recently deceased juvenile Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) was found on Hope Island, Mason County, WA on August 15, 2015. Although it was sad to see this individual motionless on the wrack line & under… Read More
July
This White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura) is showing the camouflage that it is (in)famous for below Echo Rock in Mt. Rainer National Park over the 4th of July weekend. This wasn’t the only exciting vertebrate spotted in the greater… Read More
June
A sculpin (Cottus spp) observed in Trap Creek, a tributary of the Willapa River in Pacific County, Washington on June 17th, 2015. Photo by Eric Lund, who really doesn’t want to be one of “those folks who can… Read More
May
A Pacific chorus frog (Psudacris regilla) floats in the shallows of a pond near Mt Saint Helens, WA (pictured in the background of the full image – click here ) on May 2nd, 2014. The pond is one… Read More
April
From left to right: Rose colored Van Dyke’s salamander (Plehodon vandykei), Western Red-backed salamander (Plethodon vehiculum), and yellow phase P. vandykei. All were observed in close proximity to one another along a tributary of the upper Chehalis River… Read More