Welcome
We are pleased to welcome the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists to Pittsburgh! Pittsburgh is nestled at the junction of three major rivers, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers merge to form the Ohio River. Humans have lived in the area for 19,000 years, and the present city sits within the ancestral lands of the Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Osage, and Shawnee peoples. The area was once heavily forested, with miles of rivers and streams, and it supported diverse fish and herpetofauna. Pittsburgh was founded in 1758, and its strategic location, navigational network, and abundant resources fueled explosive growth. The landscape changed dramatically as Pittsburgh became a hub for industries based on coal, iron, and steel, and the environmental costs of this growth were steep: beautiful valleys filled with slag, smoke from factories poured out into the air, and waters filled with mine acid and industrial pollution. Most affected by the pollution were the poor and the immigrant and African American working class. In contrast, wealthy industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, George Westinghouse, and Henry J. Heinz lived in luxurious estates surrounded by lush woodlands.
In the 1980s, the collapse of the steel industry and continuing environmental degradation forced Pittsburgh to remake itself through investment in health care, technology, finance, and tourism. Local universities have been instrumental to Pittsburgh’s transformation by driving innovation and fostering talent. Although problems remain, the air and water quality has improved significantly, and the hills, once barren from pollution, are now green. Many species of fish now fill the rivers, and in 2019, the Eastern Hellbender was declared the State Amphibian to draw attention to keeping our rivers clean. Pittsburgh is now ranked high in terms of “livability,” due to its reasonable cost of living, world-class museums, theater and music scene, and professional sports teams. Its diverse neighborhoods, which dot the hills and fill the valleys, give it a distinctive small-town feel.
We encourage you to find time to explore Pittsburgh. Downtown Pittsburgh is walkable, safe, and full of restaurants and cultural sites. The attractive yellow bridges you see when looking across the Allegheny River from the Convention Center honor three Pittsburgh luminaries: Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring who grew up nearby; the pop artist Andy Warhol; and the baseball legend and humanitarian Roberto Clemente. Two blocks south of the Convention Center is the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, named after the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Fences. Fans of architecture should visit the Mellon Hall of Science on the Duquesne University campus, designed by the renowned architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. A short distance north of the Allegheny River is the National Aviary, the only indoor nonprofit zoo devoted to birds in the US. About 7 miles east is the park-like Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium which has a beloved shark tank, multiple fish displays, Komodo Dragons, Aldabra Tortoises and much more.
A quick ride from the Convention Center is the lively Oakland neighborhood, where Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt, to the locals), and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History stand cheek by jowl. Pitt was home to Dr. Jonas Salk when he developed the polio vaccine in the 1950s; today, it is the largest university in western Pennsylvania and boasts the towering Cathedral of Learning, the tallest academic building in the US. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History houses an extensive collection of elasmobranchs, fishes, herps, and dinosaurs, including the holotypes of Tyrannosaurus rex, Diplodocus carnegie and Apatosaurus louisae (with the last two being named after Andrew Carnegie and his wife Louise). Farther afield is the Powdermill Nature Reserve and Avian Research Center. Run by the Carnegie Museum, Powdermill lies in an area of the Laurel Highlands rich with herps, and it boasts a historic bird banding and avian research facility. Finally, across from the Carnegie Museum is Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, where you can hear and often see Coqui Frogs.
This is just a small taste of what Pittsburgh can offer. We hope you have a great time at the conference.
Sarah K. Woodley, Duquesne University
HOSTED BY:
Committee Chair
Sarah K. Woodley, Duquesne University
Local committee members
Paul Falso, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
TJ Firneno, Juniata College
Brady Porter, Duquesne University
Cori Richards-Zawacki, University of Pittsburgh
Kyle Selcer, Duquesne University
Jennifer Sheridan, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
David Shiffman, David Shiffman Consulting, INC.
Josiah Townsend, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Lisa Whitenack, Allegheny College