About HerpMapper

HerpMapper is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization designed to gather and share information about reptile and amphibian observations across the planet. Using HerpMapper, you can create records of your herp observations and keep them all in one place. In turn, your data is made available to HerpMapper Partners – groups who use your recorded observations for research, conservation, and preservation purposes. Your observations can make valuable contributions on the behalf of amphibians and reptiles.

Who can see the records you create? There are two levels of visibility for records. Only you and HerpMapper Partners have access to all data in a record. Other users of HerpMapper and the general public can only see very basic information in your records – they do not have access to exact locality data. Any pictures attached to a record can be seen by everyone, which means you can also see the cool herps being recorded by other people from around the world.

Who are the HerpMapper Partners? For the most part, they are biologists working for state or regional agencies, university researchers, or conservation organizations. A list of HerpMapper Partners is maintained on the HerpMapper website.

For more information, also see our F.A.Q. pages, checkout our flyers (English, Spanish, German, Chinese), and checkout our Poster.

Board of Directors

Donald Becker, Director of Technology

Don (@DonFBecker) is a self-employed IT guru, and the developer responsible for what you see when using the HerpMapper website and the mobile application. Don also has a life-long passion for herpetofauna conservation and public education. When not working for clients or on the HerpMapper site, Don volunteers with various conservation organizations to manage and restore habitat, educates the public about the importance of herpetofauna, and conducts herp surveys and inventories. View Website


Mike Pingleton, Director of Operations

Mike (@SoMuchPingle) is an IT project management professional working at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. Mike is also a life-long herper who has traveled all over the world, and has recently started leading herping tours to Peru. Mike documents many of his adventures on www.pingleton.com. Mike has the bragging rights of having the first herp related website on the internet which he launched in 1994, and has also authored several herp related books, including childrens' books. Mike is pivotal to keeping HerpMapper organized and running efficiently. Mike also brings his decades of herping experience and connections to help make HerpMapper a success.


Christopher E. Smith, Director of Public Affairs

Chris (@FieldEcology) is a professional wildlife biologist by day, with a bachelor's degree in wildlife management and a master's degree in conservation biology - both from the University of Minnesota. Chris is also certified by The Wildlife Society as a Certified Wildlife Biologist. His work generally focuses on amphibian, reptiles, and terrestrial invertebrate conservation and research at a variety of spatial scales. In addition to his professional work, Chris is an avid "field herper" as well as a citizen-science advocate. Chris volunteers his time to a variety of conservation-focused organizations, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for The Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH), and is an active Midwest Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (MW PARC) and Minnesota Herpetological Society (MHS) organization member. In his 'spare' time Chris helps administer the HerpMapper project, and is the Project's social media lead. If you have not already done so, be sure to checkout HerpMapper's Facebook page, and be sure to follow @HerpMapper and @WhatTheHerp.


Advisory Committee

Gary S. Casper, PhD
Gary is the project head for the Wisconsin Herp Atlas Project, is currently the owner of Great Lakes Ecological Services, and an Associate Scientist with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Field Station.
Andrew Durso, PhD
Andrew is a herpetologist and scientific editor at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany. He was born in New York and grew up catching snakes in North Carolina. He earned a B.S. in Ecology from the University of Georgia in 2009, an M.S. in Biology from Eastern Illinois University in 2011, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Utah State University in 2016. He writes a blog about snakes called 'Life is Short, but Snakes are Long'.
Christopher L. Jenkins, PhD
Chris is the Chief Executive Officer for The Orianne Society.
Nathan Shepard
Nathan is the Eastern Region Biologist for the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program. He conducts inventory, survey, and monitoring projects throughout the eastern portion of North Carolina. His focus is on Reptile and Amphibian conservation projects including the development of conservation actions, plans, and agreements for threatened and endangered species with regional partners.
Stephen Spear, PhD
Stephen is the co-chair for the IUCN SSC Viper Specialist Group. His professional research uses a combination of field ecology, genetics, and habitat modeling to address applied and conservation concerns. His current herp work is focused on Black-headed bushmaster conservation in Costa Rica and surveys for Eastern massasauga and timber rattlesnakes in Wisconsin.

Taxonomic Review Committee

Chris Harrison
Chris is an Associate Professor of Biology at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas. His current focus is on Anuran distribution in south and south central Texas. Chris is also an avid herper and birder. Check out many of his recent Australian herp finds in the HerpMapper database!
James Van Dyke, PhD
James is currently a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Western Sydney where he focuses his research on herp conservation physiology and ecology.
Scott Eipper
Scott is an Australian herpetological consultant working mainly in venomous snake management and targeted fauna surveys. A keen photographer and herper, he is often out in the field enjoying the natural world. He has authored two books and a number of articles on Australian herpetofauna.