Croaks and Leaps: A Frog Finding Experience

What's a frog and how do we find them? Join researchers Mary Diez and Joel Mota from NC State and learn all about them! We will start things off with a brief overview of amphibians and frogs in North Carolina. Then, we'll apply what we learned and do a hands-on group activity where we will count frogs in some "swamps"! Afterwards, we'll have a group debrief and talk a little bit more about our scientist's research and the tools they use in the field to count frogs. Plus, there may be a real frog or two to gaze upon... but you won't know unless you attend! It will be a ribbiting good time you won't want to miss!

While the activity will be aimed for a younger audience, all ages are welcome to come learn about and celebrate frogs!

Registration is required, please register everyone in your party.

Mary Diez, a North Carolina native, joined North Carolina State University’s Department of Applied Ecology and NC Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit as a Master’s student in Spring of 2023. Working under Jaime Collazo and Nathan Hostetter she graduated with her Master of Science in Biology in the Fall of 2025 after having spent the last couple of years counting tiny frogs in a swamp in Puerto Rico. She is currently working as a research associate under Nathan Hostetter in the NC Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit where along with planning out future coquí frog projects, she is expanding her quantitative ecologist skills with Canada Lynx occupancy modeling. Mary currently lives in Raleigh, NC and enjoys biking, reading, making things, and looking for critters.

Joel Mota grew up as an immigrant in the sprawling suburbs of Northern Virginia. He was born in Portugal, where his passion for herpetology was sparked during childhood summers visiting family where he would dart amongst sandy pinewoods capturing little lizards. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Biology, with a minor in chemistry from George Mason University. With his bachelors in hand, he focused on acquiring wildlife and ecological research experience and hopped from one internship/technician position to another, taking him throughout the southern Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. He also traveled to Myanmar to assist on Asian elephant research being conducted by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and worked on projects that directly affected conservation decisions in Malaysia and Chad. Joel took the next step and completed a Master of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources at West Virginia University. His work focused on the conservation of spotted turtles in West Virginia. Now he has been at North Carolina State University conducting his PhD work, which focuses on how timber management practices affect herpetological communities. In his spare time Joel enjoys cooking, baking, cycling, and nurturing a nascent gardening hobby. He has enjoyed spending time in the different landscapes North Carolina has to offer; from swimming in the Atlantic Ocean looking for crabs and endangered butterflies to hiking in the mountains and being overwhelmed by the great diversity of salamanders.