Last public meeting: Texas proposed commercial ban

[Deborah Sydney]

Deborah Sydney

November 28, 2006 at 3:50 pm #24333

Note the starting time (6pm) for the meeting! We have three presentations that night with the probability of a large crowd due to the http://austinreptilebizarre.com/ Expo on Sunday. Vendors of the Expo are also invited to the meeting. RSVP to deborah.sydney@… Where: Tim & Deb’s, 300 Bello Circle, Georgetown TX 78628…(512) 837- 6253. Agenda: 6pm – 7pm, socialize, eat and drink. Food will consist of hors d’oeurves, snacks, and deserts. Feel free to bring munchies, baked goods, and chocolate!. BYOB 7pm – 7:30…Edward J. Wozniak DVM, PhD, “Hurricanes and Herpetoculture: A 2005 Lesson in Disaster Preparedness, Animal Evacuation and Biosecurity” 7:30 – 8pm…Lisa, will show a DVD of a snake hunting/road trip to Sanderson, TX area with a few of our members. 8pm – 8:15… Break 8:15pm – 9:00pm???…Duane A. Schlitter, Ph.D, “A revamping of the TP&W Nongame Permit System” Several issues to be discussed and presented will include protection of box turtles and diamondback terrapins from commercial collection. We’re talking about prohibiting commercial collection (while allowing individuals to continue being able to keep them). TP&W Wildlife Diversity Program will talk with the Commissioners of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department in January, and they need public support. New animal lists may be formed which will affect our native Texas Herps. This is your chance to voice your opinion or state observations. Bio & additional information Edward J. Wozniak DVM, PhD Assistant Director Texas A&M Institute for Biosciences and Technology LCDR, USPHS Reserve Dr. Edward J. Wozniak is a comparative and experimental pathologist who has had a life long interest in venomous animals, most notably in viperid snakes with which he has accrued over 24 years of experience. Dr. Wozniak entered veterinary school at Purdue in 1989 and received his D.V.M. and Ph.D. degrees in 1993 and 1994 respectively. The subject of his dissertation was the molecular epidemiology of hemosporozoan infections in wild-caught captive reptiles and the pathologic consequences of accidental infection, a project that he completed under the direction of Dr. Gerald L. McLaughlin, Associate Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology. As a graduate student, Dr. Wozniak applied for and received several small fellowships through Phi Zeta and the Lincoln Park Zoo that helped pay for his research efforts. Part of his study was voted “Best Student Research Paper” by the Purdue Chapter of Phi Zeta in 1992. His dissertation work was voted “Best Original Research in Zoological Medicine” by the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians in 1993 for which he received an award presented at the 1993 AAZV meeting in Saint Louis, Missouri. His dissertation work resulted in three full manuscripts and several case reports that were published in peer reviewed journals. Dr. Wozniak continued his clinical training in comparative pathology at the University of California, Davis. This training was composed of diagnostic service and hands on research training. After the first 6 months of training, Dr. Wozniak began to divide his time between the Davis and Berkeley campuses where he further advanced his training in ectotherm medicine, surgery and pathology. Dr. Wozniak’s work at U.C. Berkeley spawned a research project idea for which he and Dr. Dale DeNardo solicited a small grant through a pharmaceutical company. Part of the study required the collection of venom from rattlesnakes. It was during this time that Dr. Wozniak developed a safe restraint and venom extraction protocol that he has subsequently demonstrated to the Natural Toxins Research Center at Texas A&M University and the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. During his second and third years at U.C Davis, Dr. Wozniak taught portions of several classes in the veterinary medical professional curriculum that dealt with comparative biology and reptile and amphibian medicine. His training and associated research efforts resulted in three full manuscripts and two review articles. Through his graduate and postdoctoral training and pursuit of research interests, Dr. Wozniak has developed highly specialized expertise with tissue culture methods and the design and employment of complex immunohistochemical and immunochemical reactions for localizing intracellular components and characterizing complex mixtures. Dr. Wozniak completed his postdoctoral comparative pathology training in 1997 and acquired a position as a Sr. Veterinarian and Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Approximately one year after relocating to Texas, Dr. Wozniak and his wife Christina founded AGK reptiles and Veterinary Services, a small business specializing in the captive reproduction of viperid snakes and the provision of veterinary medical care for privately-owned exotic pets. In addition to this, AGK provided free veterinary care for the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Service. Thus far, the Wozniaks in collaboration with John Wisser, owner of Tropical Vision in Alvin, Texas, have successfully bred and reproduced several key snake species including Taylor’s cantil (Agkistrodon taylori), Mexican cantils (Agkistrodon bilineatus bilineatus, two locality-specific variants of southern copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix), Transpecos copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix pictigastor), locality-specific osage copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix phaeogaster), red diamond rattlesnakes (Crotalus ruber ruber), western cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma), mottled rock rattlesnakes (Crotalus lepidus lepidus) from two specific localities and several exotic Old World vipers and cobras. During his second year at UTMB, Dr. Wozniak was approached by a group of biomedical engineers (headed by Dr. Massoud Motamedi) who wanted to study the infrared receptor organs in snakes. Dr. Wozniak played an instrumental role in assisting the team with the development of a US Air Force biomimetics grant to study the pit organs in copperheads and successfully trained a group of engineers with no previous reptile experience to overcome their fears and competently work with and anesthetize dangerously venomous snakes. Since that time Dr. Wozniak has served as a primary reviewer for similar proposals submitted to the U.S. Air Force. During his third year at UTMB Dr. Wozniak was asked by AALAS to chair a seminar on the care and use of reptiles as laboratory animals and the use of viperid snakes in biomedical research. In accepting the invitation, Dr. Wozniak lined up a set of speakers to discuss basic husbandry, diseases, pathology, population medicine, and specific research applications. It was through this effort that Dr. Wozniak met Dr. Francis Markland, a biochemist at University of Southern California who studies the effects of snake venom disintegrins on tumors. Dr. Wozniak was so intrigued with the work presented by Dr. Markland, that he immediately began formulating a study plan for a related project based upon the presented and published findings of Dr. Markland’s laboratory. Since the September 11, 2001 incident, Dr. Wozniak has served his country in the war against terror as a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service in which he earned several high level awards for lending his expertise with venomous snakes in disaster situations and was named “Veterinary Responder of the Year” by the Surgeon General of the United States on May 3, 2006. Dr. Wozniak separated from his tour activity duty in April, 2006 at which time he joined the Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology as the Assistant Director of the Program for Animal Resources where he plans to develop a venom research program centered on the study of disintegrins. Dr. Wozniak plans to continue to strive to become a noted authority on pitviper venom-derived disintegrins and their effects on the biology of the cell at the cell/extracellular matrix interface. Lisa…An enthusiastist member of our Herp Society that loves to try new and challenging activities. Maybe she will grace us with more Bio info. Duane A. Schlitter, Ph.D. Program Leader, Nongame and Rare and Endangered Species Program Wildlife Diversity Program Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Feel free to contact me if needed, Tim Cole (512) 83-SNAKE http://www.DesignerAtrox.com http://www.AustinReptileExpo.com/ http://www.AustinReptileService.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~< Conservation through Education

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