Calling all wildlife watchers! The Iowa DNR will be hosting two frog and toad call survey training workshops in 2025. These workshops will be held live via Zoom and are for anybody interested in getting involved in Iowa's Frog and Toad Call Survey which has been collecting data on our state's amphibians for 35 years! Prospective surveyors must attend one of the two scheduled workshops.
The Frog and Toad Call Survey has a long tradition, starting in 1991. That was the first year a group of dedicated community scientists learned the frog and toad calls and trooped out into the night to visit wetlands across the state. Over the years, volunteers have collected data on over 2,200 wetlands and provided an incredible record of frog and toad activity.
Program coordinator Stephanie Shepherd explains, βIt's rare to have such a broad set of data collected over so many years on ONE species, much less a whole group of vulnerable species.β
To get involved with the frog and toad call survey you will need an adventurous spirit and the interest to learn up to 16 frog and toad breeding calls. You can check out a few of those calls in our wildlife sound library!
Interested volunteers should first visit the Volunteer Wildlife Monitoring Program webpage and read through the survey requirements to see if it is something you'd have the time for and an interest in! You can then see whether there are any existing survey routes nearby that need a monitor by browsing the maps of existing routes or participants can create their own route of 5-10 sites.
COUNTIES WHERE OPPORTUNITIES ARE LIMITED: Black Hawk, Johnson, Linn, Polk, Scott, Story Counties
COUNTIES OF GREATEST NEED: Henry, Ida, Lyon, Osceola, and Wright Counties (these have never had any surveys done in them).
COUNTIES WITH NEED:
- NORTHWEST IOWA: Buena Vista, Clay, Emmet, Palo Alto, Pocahontas
- NORTHEAST IOWA: Chickasaw, Floyd, Howard, Mitchell
- SOUTHEAST IOWA: Davis, Mahaska, Monroe. Poweshiek, Wapello, Des Moines
The time commitment for conducting the survey and submitting data is roughly 10 hours total between April and July each year and will require being out after dark for roughly 2 hours during each survey period. Workshops are most appropriate for adults or older children (12+).
Each workshop has limited seats available and a $5.00 fee is required. Registration will close a week prior to the workshops or whenever the workshops have been filled. Direct questions to the Volunteer Wildlife Monitoring Program Coordinator via email (vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov). Interested volunteers must register for one of the two training workshops.
- March 16, 2025 | Sunday Afternoon | 1:00pm to 4:00pm.
- March 22, 2025 | Saturday Morning | 9:00am to 12:00pm.
There is a $5 fee to cover workshop materials. To learn more about the survey visit the DNR Volunteer Wildlife Monitoring Program webpage.
Volunteer Wildlife Monitoring Program - Workshop Registration
If the workshops are full or your schedule doesn't work for the workshops above you can email (vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov and ask to be placed on a waiting list for either of these workshops or a notification list for future workshops. Please indicate your full name and what county you live in, in the email.