Kirsten Hecht, a PhD student at the University of Florida, started the hashtag #HERpers to highlight the work of women in herpetology – the study of reptiles and amphibians.
Attn #Herpetology gals: I know we work hard. Let's share pics using #HERpers & show the twitterverse! #WomenInSTEM
Since then plenty of other women in science have taken up the call, tweeting photos of themselves in the field.
I study people & environment. Still get muddy for herps! #HERpers @HellbenderHecht #WildlifeWednesday #wildlifeUF
Hecht told BuzzFeed News the hashtag came about when she was with female colleagues on her way to a herpetology meeting last weekend.
Posing with the One-Toed Amphiuma I found while getting muddy digging a drift fence #HERpers #WomenInSTEM
"We were joking around about being a female herpetology gang," said Hecht. "I kept thinking about how I know some really fantastic hard-working female herpetologists."
Selfie with Vietnam's largest tree frog, Rhacophorus feae, while on #amphibian expedition. #HERpers #WomenInSTEM
"With the popularity of #WomeninSTEM, it seemed like it would be a great time to highlight all the science and conservation work being done by women in our field."
I have a million pics for #HERpers but these two are my favourite, from this last summer of fieldwork
"I also wanted to remind people that some of us love to get muddy and catch awesome critters."
#HERpers this hashtag rocks!
All kinds of critters are being shared on the hashtag. So far there have been lots of snakes.
Pretty Arizona elegans in 2012. Love seeing the tagged photos from #HERpers #LeadByExample
Racers rock! #HERpers
Some salamanders.
My current grad students are all awesome #HERpers! Amber Stedman (L) & Jenny Sutherland (R) with Ambystoma last year
Nope not field work. Just first (Nov!) cold snap in Baton Rouge 😆 Ambystoma opacum Love #HERpers @HellbenderHecht!
Challenge accepted, @HellbenderHecht. Here's me with my first siren ~1 year ago :) #HERpers #WomenInSTEM
And frogs and toads.
I adore frogs and toads! Hunting and watching tadpoles metamorphose made me a biologist. #HERpers
"Is that a spring peeper on your shoulder?" "Naturally." #HERpers
Even some alligators.
#Alligators big and small, I count them all... for my PhD research #HERpers
Some of the creatures are pretty tiny.
Love the new #HERpers hashtag. Posed for a pic with this cutie during field work (while pregnant!) - Oregon 2014
With a grass lizard in South Africa in 2009, when I decided herps are the best #HERpers
A young herper in action #HERpers #WomenInSTEM
Others are a little harder to miss.
Boy: "You're not scared of snakes, but you're a girl." Me: I'm not scared, because I'm a girl. Boy: Cool #HERpers
I've shared this one before, but it's too fun not to add to the #HERpers collection. Yoga with water snakes!
Keep up the awesome work, #HERpers!
Being a girl in herpetology has always been challenging - but it's made me the person I am today! #HERpers