Re: Heretelogical colleges

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Posted by Russ on July 06, 2000 at 11:56:05:

In Reply to: Re: Heretelogical colleges posted by kw on April 12, 2000 at 23:14:20:

Jason, welcome to the club. I think it's great that you want to work with herps. Currently I am a senior at Oklahoma State studiing zoology. I plan to attend grad school here for several reasons. One: I have heard that OSU has one of the best herpetology programs in the nation. Have you ever heard of Dr. David Duvall? He is a professor here and he is great. He deales mainly with behavior especially in rattlesnakes (You can read some of his papers on discovery.com). There is another professor, Dr. Stanley Fox, who is also excellent. I have taken courses under both professors and enjoyed them very much. I am a much better herper because of them. Two: Both professors deal with different aspects of herpetology. No matter what you want to study I'm sure it will be covered here.
Good luck in your future. Go Pokes!!!
Russ: : I am interested in becoming a herpetologist of some kind. Im thinking either a breeder or I might like to study in the field.

: : Can anyone recommend some better colleges for herpetology?

: : Please e mail me.

: : Thanks,

: : Jason

: Jason: There is actually no college that offers a degree in herpetology. What you need to do is go to college and get a bachelors degree (4 year degree) in biology or ecology or even in animal science. Next step, you need to go to graduate school to get a Masters degree or a Doctoral degree (PhD). In choosing a graduate school, you want to choose one that has active herpetologists teaching and researching there. Once in graduate school you will choose a field of expertise that interests you, such as Ecology, Anatomy, Systematics, etc. Since you are interested in herps, this will be the animals you study. See a herpetologist is really just a scientist who works in a particular field and uses reptiles as his study animals. An example is Harry Greene (Author of a wonderful book entitled "Snakes: The Study of Mystery in Nature") is actually an Ecologist who works with snakes and the ecology of snakes. As for what you term a "breeder", that is what we call a herpetoculturist and although a degree would help you, it is not necessairily needed. I can't help you too much on the breeding aspect, but there are many people on Kingsnake.com that can get you started in that direction. As for herpetology, I've listed some of the bigger schools that have herpetologists working at them, that you may look into attending. Once you narrow down the schools, find out what herpetologists are there and what their areas of expertise are, so that you can match yourself where you will be most happy. Once there, learn as much as you can because it can be a difficult field to work in. Good luck and email me if you have any other questions!

: University of Florida

: University of Texas

: University of Texas at Arlington

: University of Kansas

: University of Miami

: Cornell University

: University of California Berkely

: Pennsylvania State University

: University of Oklahoma

: Louisiana State University

: Auburn University

: Clemson University

: Remember, many universities have herpetologists, the above schools are just the most active (past and present).

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: Jason, welcome to the club. I think it's great that you want to work with herps. Currently I am a senior at Oklahoma State studiing zoology. I plan to attend grad school here for several reasons. One: I have heard that OSU has one of the best herpetology programs in the nation. Have you ever heard of Dr. David Duvall? He is a professor here and he is great. He deales mainly with behavior especially in rattlesnakes (You can read some of his papers on discovery.com). There is another professor, Dr. Stanley Fox, who is also excellent. I have taken courses under both professors and enjoyed them very much. I am a much better herper because of them. Two: Both professors deal with different aspects of herpetology. No matter what you want to study I'm sure it will be covered here. : Good luck in your future. Go Pokes!!! : Russ: : I am interested in becoming a herpetologist of some kind. Im thinking either a breeder or I might like to study in the field. : : : Can anyone recommend some better colleges for herpetology? : : : Please e mail me. : : : Thanks, : : : Jason : : Jason: There is actually no college that offers a degree in herpetology. What you need to do is go to college and get a bachelors degree (4 year degree) in biology or ecology or even in animal science. Next step, you need to go to graduate school to get a Masters degree or a Doctoral degree (PhD). In choosing a graduate school, you want to choose one that has active herpetologists teaching and researching there. Once in graduate school you will choose a field of expertise that interests you, such as Ecology, Anatomy, Systematics, etc. Since you are interested in herps, this will be the animals you study. See a herpetologist is really just a scientist who works in a particular field and uses reptiles as his study animals. An example is Harry Greene (Author of a wonderful book entitled "Snakes: The Study of Mystery in Nature") is actually an Ecologist who works with snakes and the ecology of snakes. As for what you term a "breeder", that is what we call a herpetoculturist and although a degree would help you, it is not necessairily needed. I can't help you too much on the breeding aspect, but there are many people on Kingsnake.com that can get you started in that direction. As for herpetology, I've listed some of the bigger schools that have herpetologists working at them, that you may look into attending. Once you narrow down the schools, find out what herpetologists are there and what their areas of expertise are, so that you can match yourself where you will be most happy. Once there, learn as much as you can because it can be a difficult field to work in. Good luck and email me if you have any other questions! : : University of Florida : : University of Texas : : University of Texas at Arlington : : University of Kansas : : University of Miami : : Cornell University : : University of California Berkely : : Pennsylvania State University : : University of Oklahoma : : Louisiana State University : : Auburn University : : Clemson University : : Remember, many universities have herpetologists, the above schools are just the most active (past and present).

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