Researcher under fire for showing risqué​​​​​​​ photos at turtle and fish conference

Justin Murphy | Democrat and Chronicle

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Normally, the acceptance address for the Herpetologists' League annual award for Distinguished Herpetologist doesn't make the news. This year is different — and not because Dick Vogt chose "The Excitement of River Turtles from the Mississippi to the Amazon" for his topic.

Instead, it was the photographs he chose to illustrate his topic that are bringing unwanted attention to him and the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists (fish scientists) and Herpetologists (amphibians and reptiles), taking place this week in Rochester.

According to several attendees, Vogt, a longtime researcher of Brazilian turtles, showed several pictures of "scantily clad female students" doing field research. The photographs were risqué enough that conference organizers added blue boxes to cover parts of the women's bodies.

The controversy peaked Friday night when the Herpetologists' League rescinded Vogt's award and apologized for the "offensive content" in his slides.

Adam Summers, an ichthyologist in attendance, wrote on Twitter: "Herp League decided the most distinguished herpetologist they could find was Dick Vogt. His talk included scantily clad female students. Blue box cover ups were added without Vogt's knowledge."

Emily Taylor, a herpetologist from Cal-Poly, said she and 14 of her students were at Vogt's lecture.

Showing scandalous slides, she said, "is something he's been doing for 20 years. ... There's a big difference between what he does and just (pictures of) students in normal field garb."

"We saw some slides we thought might have been offensive," Henry Mushinsky, the conference committee chairman, said Friday. "Some of the photos people thought were a little too revealing, so we decided to sort of block them out a bit. The whole idea was to try to minimize anyone feeling uncomfortable."

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He said it's common for biologists working near water to wear bikinis and bathing suits but acknowledged that the pictures Vogt showed were not just typical documentary photos.

"In my humble opinion it’s unfortunate he got selected to give this plenary," he said. "Without a written code of conduct, our hands are tied."

All of the four biological societies meeting together in Rochester this week are in the process of creating such codes, he said.

The directors of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists tweeted that they "regretted" the presentation and said: "This is why the #JMIH is working on the #CodeOfConduct."

Its past president, Maureen Donnelly, also said she intended to present a resolution regarding Vogt's behavior at the Herpetologists' League meeting Friday night.

#ASIH President Brian Crother and me on behalf of the ASIH leadership regret the presentation given this morning by one of the plenary speakers. This is why the #JMIH is working on the #CodeOfConduct. — Maureen A. Donnelly (@Mo_Donnelly) July 12, 2018

It was the Herpetologists' League in particular that chose to honor Vogt. It did not respond to a comment about Vogt's slides or why it had chosen to give him the award in the first place. Several other herpetologists tweeted past examples of his alleged misbehavior in what quickly became a public airing of #MeToo grievances.

In addition to rescinding Vogt's award, the Herpetologists' League said Friday it would sign the joint meeting's code of conduct and form committees on diversity, inclusivity and "professional conduct."

I'm not even at #JMIH18 rn and I know she's talking about Vogt.

It's no secret to female herpetologists that he is a person to avoid.

Before my 1st conference, my female PI talked to her female students for AN HOUR about his notoriously sketchy behavior & how to avoid him. https://t.co/iO6VsQsBTS — Sam H. Dean (@samdeanscience) July 12, 2018

The event is taking place at the downtown Riverside Convention Center, but Nazareth College is serving as host institution. A college spokeswoman said she had no knowledge of the conference or Vogt's slides beyond what the academic organizers were sharing.

Vogt declined to comment Friday afternoon. He gave another address, this time on the vocalizations of sea turtles. He made a number of wry references to the controversy, including when describing the sound parakeets make when they kiss.

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"This might be erotic to some people," he said. "I apologize for showing this slide."

A minute later, back on the topic of turtles, he said: "Males often go under females and sniff their cloaca (their reproductive orifice). I'm sorry, but that's what they do."

Look I’m not a herpetologist but I don’t know why these pictures are here. He didn’t reference anything about turtle reproduction? #JMIH18 pic.twitter.com/6fi79CTPgu — Justin Murphy (@CitizenMurphy) July 13, 2018

The only question he received was from Danielle Wasserman, a graduate student at Bronx College who wanted to know "if being a provocateur has ever hurt you financially."

He said it had not.

"I love our community; my best friends are in this community," Wasserman later said. "I care about our overall health and I don't want people to be afraid."

Follow Justin Murphy on Twitter: @CitizenMurphy