About ASP

Advocates for Snake Preservation, ASP, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the way people view and treat snakes. We officially launched on Endangered Species Day (May 16) in 2014.

Why Snakes?

Snakes are threatened by many of the same issues that affect all wildlife, including habitat loss, climate change, and disease. But negative attitudes toward snakes may be the biggest barrier to their conservation because it often impedes efforts to address other threats (read more).

Our Mission

To use science, education, and advocacy to promote compassionate conservation and coexistence with snakes.

Our Vision

A world where snakes are respected and appreciated instead of feared and hated.

Respect and Appreciation for ALL

ASP was founded to fight fear and hatred; of snakes, yes, but as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We recognize that until all humans are treated with respect, our mission cannot be realized. Thus, we support all who promote compassion and oppose fear and hate.

Our path forward is working together to help those who need it most. While we continue our advocacy for snakes, we’re listening and learning for ways we can support the fight to end systemic racism.

We envision a world where ALL are respected and appreciated instead of feared and hated.

Our Values

  • Peaceful coexistence with snakes requires that we critically examine and modify our own behavior first in conflict situations.
  • We favor conservation strategies that use alternatives to lethal methods and prioritize well-being and ethical treatment of individual animals.
  • We believe that individuals matter, beyond their value as members of a population or species and regardless of their status or usefulness to humans.
  • Because the emphasis in maximizing economic profits across the globe is one of the largest threats to wildlife and conservation in general, we call for a change in the fundamentals of our society starting by individual choices in our everyday life and continuing by demanding action to reduce environmental and biodiversity destruction from those we elect to serve us and the industries we support.

Our Work

The Advocates

Melissa Amarello, Executive Director
Jeff Smith, Director of Research
Steve Marlatt, Chair of the Board of Directors
Jesús A. Rivas, PhD, Vice-Chair
Emily Taylor, PhD, Secretary
Gordon M. Burghardt, PhD, Director
(read our bios here)

Arizona Black Rattlesnakes, who advocate for snakes by showing the world that snakes are beautiful, sometimes social creatures, with rich family lives about which we have much to learn.

Melissa Amarello and Jeff Smith observing a den of Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes; photographed by Young Cage in 2004
Melissa Amarello and Jeff Smith observing a den of Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes; photographed by Young Cage in 2004.

ASP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Find out how to support our work and where your donation goes.