We unravel the mystery of snakes to foster compassion and promote snake conservation
We conduct research on natural history and behavior of snakes following the Compassionate Conservation Guiding Principles. We disseminate our findings using creative media through this website, social media, peer-reviewed publications, presentations, and events.
Social Snakes is non-profit in nature but we do not yet have 501-c3 status. Find out how to support our work here.

SocialSnakes is Melissa Amarello and Jeff Smith, who share a common interest in snake natural history and conservation. We met 10 years ago while doing field research and joined forces to develop projects on reptiles in California and Arizona. The need for positive messaging about snakes became apparent as we saw firsthand how negative attitudes can stifle conservation efforts. We incorporated education and outreach into our research, formalized in 2010 with the founding of Social Snakes.
Melissa Amarello, Social Media and Outreach Coordinator
Melissa received her B.S. in Wildlife, Watershed, and Rangeland Resources at the University of Arizona and her M.S. in Biology at Arizona State University, where she studied rattlesnake social behavior.
Jeff Smith, Research Director
Jeff earned his B.A. in Biology and Spanish from Rice University and an M.S. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona.
Hi Melissa. I just happened to be checking out Happy Cow for an upcoming weekend we are going to be spending in Prescott. Haven’t been there in a few years. I happened to notice a few of your comments and noticed the photo of the Pituophis and got curious. Clicked on your website and bang here I am. Besides being a local family practice physician who advocates a plant based (herbivorous diet) to his patients, I am also a long time herpetologist. Did my undergrad in Iowa and Masters in zoology/ecology prior to venturing on to medicine. Also noticed that my long time dear friend Young Cage took the pic above. Miss him dearly. I knew him long before he moved to the Dove Mountain area years ago. Anyway, just thought I would say hi and you are welcome to drop me a line at my website I listed or go to my website and do same. I will also be giving a presentation at a veg conference at the TCC November 1st this year. Dr. Neal Barnard, Michael Greger, and Dr. Richard Oppenlander will be speaking that day as well. Should be a great event if you are interested. Hope to meet you sometime! Ted