What do you see when you think of a scientist? Do you see someone wearing a labcoat and goggles holding a beaker, or looking through a microscope? How about someone wearing jeans and a T-shirt, covered in mud, holding a frog and a camera? What about someone sitting on their back porch watching birds through binoculars? A person planting a vegetable garden? Did you know that all of these people could be classified as scientists?!

Are you ready for an adventure in the field? Welcome to Adventures in Toading! My name is Amanda, and I am a Behavioral Ecologist. What does that mean? Come check out my website and I'll tell you more!

Enjoy a personal welcome message from Amanda in the video below!

This website is geared toward students interested in learning about science outside of a laboratory setting. Clicking on the research tab will give you an in-depth look at what I do as a behavioral ecologist, where I do my research, and what kind of planning and decision-making goes into designing a research project.


Follow along with me while I do research this summer by reading my blog , which I'll update every few days to let you know how the toads are doing in the experiments. I'll be posting videos, pictures, and answers to your questions, so make sure to check back often!


The stuff to do section has activities and worksheets that you can use to design your own animal behavior experiment, as well as links to online games that you can play starring frogs!


You can find more information about frogs and toads by clicking on facts & links , where I'll post other awesome websites and information about anurans and what you can do to help protect them in your area.


Finally, you can click contact to learn more about me and how I became inspired to study toads in the rainforests of Central America. You can even write me a message or ask me questions, I'm happy to respond!


Watch a video of a cane toad finding food during pilot studies last summer!

This work is supported in part by the TTU/HHMI Science Education Grant at the
Center for the Integration of
Science and Education Outreach (CISER)


And by the Texas Tech University Department of Biological Sciences