Jim Petranka
Jim Petranka is a retired professor of biology with UNC Asheville. He has particular expertise with amphibians and moths, and is an author of the Amphibians and Moths of North Carolina sites.
Jim began studying the natural world when he was a young boy growing up in Alabama and has continued to do so throughout his life. He completed graduate degrees in both plant ecology (MS) and animal ecology (PhD), and was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at UNC-Chapel Hill before taking a position at UNC-Asheville. He instructed courses at UNC-Asheville in field biology, ecology and evolutionary biology for nearly 30 years and conducted numerous research projects with undergraduates.
Jim's publications in scientific journals focus primarily on the natural history, ecology and conservation biology of amphibians. His book The Salamanders of the United States and Canada is a compendium of scientific works that address the natural history of North American salamanders. Since retiring in 2014 he has spent most of his time studying the amazing biodiversity of the Southeast, and particularly the Appalachian Mountains that he and his wife call home. In retirement, Jim has also developed a new interest in documenting various aspects of the life history, ecology and diversity of moths that occur in North Carolina. He is now a site administrator for the Moths of North Carolina and Amphibians of North Carolina projects.
To learn more about Jim's research, visit the link below: