“ South Florida is an amazing place , particularly Everglades National Park and the surrounding area . The native biodiversity is really special . You have the American Crocodile , alligators , a whole wide array of wildlife . The flip side of that is there is also a large number of invasive species like the Burmese Pythons , Mediterranean Geckos , Brown Anoles , the Cuban Tree Frog . These are all really adding up together to hammer home why invasive species are such an issue here in south Florida ,” said Steen .
“ The unofficial reason I decided to participate in the competition is because it ’ s fun . I am friends with my teammates , we don ’ t see one another very often , and it has been fun hanging out and camping . Plus , for me , looking for snakes is a hobby , and it ’ s not often that I get to do it in a competition . Officially , public outreach and science communication are important to me , and this competition presents an opportunity to reach a lot of people in a fun manner and talk about the very real threat invasive species pose to our ecosystems .”
Steen is a faculty member in the Auburn University Department of Biological Sciences and a researcher with the Auburn University Museum of Natural History ’ s Alabama Natural Heritage Program . In addition to work with Burmese Pythons , he is a leader on the Eastern Indigo Snake reintroduction project . The goal of the project is to reestablish the nonvenomous Eastern Indigo Snake in its native habitat in south Alabama . He has also conducted research on the Argentine Black and White Tegu , a large , non-native , predatory lizard reaching four feet in length and more than 10 pounds that is also invading the south Florida ecosystem .
For more information on Steen , follow his blog at livingalongsidewildlife . com , his Twitter account at Twitter . com / AlongsideWild , or visit his website at auburn . edu / cosam / steen .
For more information on the Python Challenge , visit the website at pythonchallenge . org .
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