Students Late-Night Patrols Aim to Protect Road-Crossing Amphibians Stories You May Like 3D-Printed Statues Honor Women in STEM—Including Seven Cornellians How Reclaiming a Part of Myself Made Way for My Dreams Keeping Pets Safe During the Dog Days of Summer Two CALS grad students lead a team of volunteers who offer a gentle assist to migrating frogs and salamanders Editor’s note: This story was adapted from a feature in the Cornell Chronicle. By Holly Hartigan Conditions rarely beloved by humans—42 degrees, raining, dark—are perfect for salamanders. As winter ends, all around the Northeast, salamanders and frogs emerge from their upland habitats ready to find a mate. But when a road stands between them and the temporary spring pools where they lay their eggs, as many as 20–30% of a local population can be killed by cars in a single night. That’s why, in Tompkins County and beyond, volunteers are donning reflective vests and headlamps and heading out into that cold, dark rain to help the local salamanders and their frog brethren cross roads safely. They are part of Tompkins County Amphibian Patrol (TCAMP), a three-year-old organization run by two CALS grad students: founder and president Stephen Bredin, who’s pursuing a master’s in wildlife conservation, and vice president Stephanie Tran, a doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology. Training in advance of a TCAMP patrol. Many volunteers are members of the Cornell community, but the organization is not formally affiliated with the University and welcomes anyone. The group leads an annual community science project to collect amphibian road mortality data, assigning volunteers to patrol routes and providing safety gear, data sheets, and training. In spring 2025, 215 volunteers surveyed more than 100 road sites across Tompkins County, documenting 7,000 amphibians. Approximately 3,000 of those had been killed. In spring 2025, 215 volunteers surveyed more than 100 road sites across Tompkins County, documenting 7,000 amphibians. Approximately 3,000 of those had been killed. “These guys, unfortunately, need our help,” says Brandon Hedrick, assistant professor in CVM’s Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences and a TCAMP advisory board member. “It’s a huge mortality risk to walk across a road at like 0.5 meters per minute.” Road mortality isn’t the only factor threatening salamander populations. They’re also sensitive to habitat loss, climate change, disease, and pollution. “Amphibians are among the most threatened vertebrate groups on the planet,” says Bredin. “Almost half of all amphibian species are threatened or endangered, and 60% of salamander species are threatened or endangered, and they’re declining rapidly.” Volunteers often brave less-than-hospitable weather conditions. This year, warm weather in early March inspired a few eager amphibians to emerge and several teams of volunteers to patrol, including a group self-titled A Newt Hope, which braved the darkness and drizzle to walk a portion of Sapsucker Woods Road, near the Lab of Ornithology. Stories You May Like 3D-Printed Statues Honor Women in STEM—Including Seven Cornellians How Reclaiming a Part of Myself Made Way for My Dreams “You’ve got to be a special type of crazy to come out here in the rain to help save little salamanders,” says A Newt Hope member Sam Rimm-Kaufman, MLA ’25, “but it is fun, and very rarely do you have an opportunity to be that engaged with the environment.” You’ve got to be a special type of crazy to come out here in the rain to help save little salamanders. Sam Rimm-Kaufman, MLA ’25 The migration typically takes a couple of weeks in total, but most years the majority will migrate over one or two nights, meaning a lot of amphibians in the road at once. “Salamanders did not evolve with roads in mind,” Hedrick says, “and as a result are not aware of how dangerous they are.” Bredin founded TCAMP in 2023, bringing together existing patrol efforts underway within CVM and at Ithaca College. Patrollers are equipped with a guide to salamander identification. In its first patrol in 2024, 100 volunteers documented 900 amphibians. This year, more than 300 volunteers have patrolled in five counties; by early March, they had documented more than 2,000 individual amphibians. The data volunteers collect can inform conservation efforts and further research. It identified migration hotspots that Bredin is studying as part of his master’s project on juvenile salamander road mortality in the summer and fall. The migration typically takes a couple of weeks in total, but most years the majority will migrate over one or two nights, meaning a lot of amphibians in the road at once. Patrollers tally the number of vehicles that drive past, weather and road conditions, the number and species of amphibians, and the direction they are traveling. All that data can show, for example, where to place patrols; whether selective road closings could help; and where to build underpasses that allow amphibians to travel beneath a road. “I think that by doing this,” Bredin says, “we can make Tompkins County a little bit of a better place for these animals and for the people interacting with them.” (All images by Jason Koski / Cornell University.) Published March 18, 2026 Comments Karen Grikstas, Class of 1972 24 Mar, 2026 Great work. I hope this helps. Spotted salamanders are so beautiful. I recall hoards of them crossing the roads during the springs of ’70-74 when I lived in the Ithaca area. I now live in Wisconsin where we have the same problem with Tiger salamanders. Reply Harold Berenzweig, Class of 1967 24 Mar, 2026 Did my honors thesis on these cute guys. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Campus & Beyond With ‘Migrations,’ Big Red Scholars Navigate a World in Motion Cornelliana 150 Years of Mechanical Engineering on the Hill: Fascinating Facts Bear Hugs He Couldn’t Find a Kids’ Book about Ithaca—So He Wrote One