Working in herpetology?

[superphil92]

Well I love herps. I study them and memorize scientific names on spare time. Always bore and excite my friends about them. I love going to my local creek to take pictures of frogs, snakes, and salamanders. And than classifying them. Im 12 by the way. I realy want to go to a good college for herpetology, And get a living off of herpetology.I want to do more of field work, researching, And going places. Kind of how frogs live. I have heard there are differnet branches of herpetology, What is the branch for me?

[SkeletalFrog]

The degree you'll want will be biology or, in some schools, zoology. Schools may offer a course in herpetology (or ornithology, or entomology, etc) as part of a broader degree that teaches you the fundamentals of genetics, evolution, ecology, physiology, etc., which you need. Typically you then go to grad school in the broad field you like, but focus your studies on herps - for instance, if you like genetics, you work on genetics of herps, or if you like ecology, you work on their ecology.

But before you get that far, you need to do really well in school, take advanced science and math courses (all of them, there's a lot of physics and chemistry in biology), and go to a good college. Once there, keep up the studying, but also see if you can volunteer in the lab of a professor - that will give you a real taste of what research is like, the good and the bad. From there, you can go into government environmental work, private industry, conservation work, or academia.

Good luck and study hard!

[frogluver]

Do you like all heps or one specific type, i.e. amphibians.

I happen to be in the middle of a college search—as I’m in the 12^th grade—and am also considering herpetology as a major (though now I have recently become more interested in amphibian pathology). However, I did a little research and found out that the branch of herpetology that would be the best for me is batrachology, or the study of frogs.

I don’t know of any other branches in herpetology. But I do know that herpetology is the study of all herps, both reptiles and amphibians. If you like all herps or just reptiles, then herpetology would be the best study for you. If you’re like me and like only frogs, then batrachology would be the perfect fit.
As far as colleges that offer herpetology as a major, I have a link to a decent article that I have referenced to help me in my own college search. http://www.ssarherps.org/pages/careers.php I hope this helps you as it has helped me

You can also research and find professionals in the field of herpetology and ask them questions, such as how they got a career in the field or what they enjoy/dislike most about their career. I recently had the opportunity to work with a graduate student from Oregon, who was studying the Chytrid fungus in Wood frogs; I got to swab the abdominal region of adult frogs and the mouths of tadpoles, to use as samples to be tested in a lab. This experience really opened my mind to what I want to….study diseases of frogs and find cures to save them.

If you ask questions (a lot of them lol), read about the different careers and fields in herpetology, do volunteer work with a scientist working in the field, or anything else involving herps, you'll be able to find your calling if you haven't already .

[bshmerlie]

I think that's great that you want to get into the field professionally. At the age of twelve I don't think you should worry about getting specific into any one area of the field. You realistically wont have to really focus until probably your sophomore year in college. Learn all you can about all areas of the field, keep your grades up and when you get into high school start identifying the colleges that have good programs for you area of interest at that time. Nowadays you can even start taking some college courses in high school that can give you a head start. Expose yourself to all aspects of the field. You may find your interests change the more you learn about other areas.

[tgampper]

Here is a list of universities that offer a degree in the field of herpetology:

• Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (cornell.edu)
• Humboldt State University, Arcata, California (humboldt.edu)
• Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida (fsu.edu)
• University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas (ku.edu)
• Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas (k-state.edu)
• Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (harvard.edu)
• University of California, Berkeley, California (berkeley.edu)
• University of Texas, Arlington, Texas (uta.edu)
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas (tamu.edu)
• University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (ufl.edu)
• University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida (miami.edu)
• Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia (marshall.edu/herp)
• University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma (ou.edu)
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (umich.edu)
• University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado (colorado.edu)

You should also check out this website Web Portal - CNAH The Center for North American Herpetology. They maintain a large database, including careers.

[ToadPaparazzi]

Just wanted to add Loma Linda University (Loma Linda, CA). They have a really good Earth Sciences program.

[Lacibeth]

Things outside of school are important as well. Is there a vet's office, or nature center, or maybe zoo where you can volunteer to help care for these animals?

[SkeletalFrog]

Things outside of school are important as well. Is there a vet's office, or nature center, or maybe zoo where you can volunteer to help care for these animals?

I'd like to second this, strongly.

The knowledge I've gained via the herp community has actually been tremendously useful to me in academia - knowing how to keep assorted critters, parasites/diseases, where to find various species for sale, and just general biodiversity. More than just helping me, I've become a sort of herp-resource for the other biology folks here, helping them find species for their experiments or making sure there's not some obscure species somewhere that disproves some general statement they're making.


I'd also like to add that, while it's great to focus on herps, don't exclude everything else - even in my relatively short career, I've worked with snakes, lizards, frogs, turkeys, lungfish, rats, and brittle-stars.