FULBRIGHT-HAYS FELLOW DISCOVERS NEW SPECIES

Fulbright-Hays Fellow Discovers New Species During Research Fellowship in Ecuador Kelsey Huisman, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and recipient of a FY 2018 Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship, recently visited Ecuador to study orchids but discovered much more.

Huisman was not just in Ecuador to study orchids; she was also helping with general conservation. While collecting leaf samples, Juan Pablo Reyes Puig, Reserve Manager of EcoMinga, asked Huisman to also collect frogs and toads from the mountains. "I [was] not actively looking for a new species," said Huisman, "but there is always that hope that researchers will make a discovery, since we are working in these remote, largely untouched habitats, and that these reserves are continuously explored by EcoMinga staff and other visiting scientists and students." She found something extraordinarya previously unknown toad now known as "Backshall's Toad." Click Here for the full story of Huisman's discovery.