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341 What do malformed frogs in Minnesota and Japan have in common? Students on field trips discovered them. The problem of malformed frogs drew national attention in 1995 when Cindy Reinitz and her students at the Minnesota New Country School in Henderson, Minnesota, found large numbers of malformed frogs. Images of frogs with gross abnormalities were broadcast on national news programs and printed in newspapers across the country. Minnesota scientists were already studying the phenomenon, but the large number of malformed frogs found by these students created intense interest, both in the public and in politicians. Following this, Cindy Reinitz, Judy Helgen (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency [MPCA] scientist), and Tracy Fredin (Director of the Center for Global Environmental Education at Hamline University) met to discuss opportunities for scientists, educators, and students to work together to find the causes of this phenomenon. With this, A Thousand Friends of Frogs was born. In 1995, the Minnesota State Legislature provided funding to begin the initiative. A reporting structure was established with a survey protocol and reporting form, which was distributed throughout the state. A tollfree number was also dedicated as a Frog Hotline for malformed reports. In 1996, a group of partners under the lead of A Thousand Friends of Frogs proposed to the state legislature to begin an amphibian population monitoring project in addition to continuing the malformation reporting effort. Part of this funding would provide a set of educational deliverables that could be used by educators to teach about amphibian conservation and environmental awareness. This state funding was granted after the students who had originally found the malformed frogs testified in front of the Minnesota Legislature. The monitoring program that was established as Minnesota Frog Watch is coordinated with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). The staff has trained over 100 volunteers for a statewide anuran call survey that will eventually become a part of the wildlife monitoring programs administered by the MDNR. The mission of A Thousand Friends of Frogs is twofold: to educate citizens about the environment through the issues facing amphibians, and in particular frogs; and to involve the public in local environment issues, including ones that affect amphibians. To accomplish this mission the program has the following goals: 1. Create, disseminate, and then encourage teachers to use an education program that is based on amphibian conservation but also teaches about broader environmental issues. 2. Work at local, state, regional, national, and international levels with other groups concerned about amphibians and the environment. 3. Use the best possible aspects of current and future technologies to educate citizens about issues facing amphibians. 4. Encourage citizens to become involved in environmental issues and with monitoring their own local environment . The Web site for A Thousand Friends of Frogs (http://cgee.hamline.edu/frogs) details these objectives and the current programs. Since the inception of A Thousand Friends of Frogs, the staff has received thousands of malformity reports, worked with MPCA scientists, and created kits with a complete array of teaching resources for educators (available through the Minnesota Science Museum). A play called Frog Call, based on the challenges facing amphibians, has toured schools in the Minneapolis /St. Paul area. The project Web site has won numerous awards for its content. The staff is also working with national and international organizations, such as the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (DAPTF), Partners for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC), and Frog Force, to educate the public about the plight of amphibians. In 1999, through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Best Buy Children’s Foundation, staff developed an online course F I FTY-O N E A Thousand Friends of Frogs: Its Origins TONY P. MURPHY for educators. The course, “Helping Your Local Amphibians” (or HYLA project), was made available to 20 educators nationwide . During the course, participants received background information on amphibian biology and the global decline of amphibians. They were then asked to discover their local amphibians and explore the status of populations in their state. As part of the final component, educators had to devise a project involving their students to promote amphibian awareness and conservation in their area. HYLA is scheduled to be offered on an annual basis. Summary A Thousand Friends of Frogs offers a successful example of constructive student and community involvement in an environmental issue. Students helped to make the public and government more aware of the amphibian malformity issue. They showed that there are...

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