Biographical Information
(July 2002)
Charles R. Peterson, Ph.D.

    Dr. Charles R. Peterson received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Zoology at the University of Illinois-Urbana, his Ph.D. in Zoology at Washington State University, and conducted his postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago. He is currently a Professor of Zoology in the Department of Biological Sciences and a member of the Geotechnologies Program faculty at Idaho State University.  He also is Curator of Herpetology in the Idaho Museum of Natural History, Co-chair of the IUCN/SSC Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force for the Rocky Mountain region, and coordinator of Idaho Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.

    Peterson's teaching responsibilities at ISU include Organic Evolution, Conservation Biology, Herpetology, Physiological Ecology, Environmental Physiology, GIS Applications in Ecology, and various seminars at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He is interested in the use of educational technology to supplement traditional teaching media, offers a web section of his herpetology class, and is a co-principal investigator for the Digital Atlas of Idaho.  Since coming to ISU in 1988, Dr. Peterson has had four Ph.D., three DA, and six Master's students complete their degrees under his supervision. He is currently supervising three Ph.D., one Doctor of Arts, and three Master's students. He has conducted herpetological training sessions for the Bureau of Land Management, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho Power Company, the National Park Service, Potlatch Corporation, the USDA Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and The Wildlife Society, teaches a field-based short course for the Yellowstone Institute, and serves as a consultant for the Idaho Natural Heritage Project.

    Peterson's research interests include the ecology and conservation biology of amphibians and reptiles, especially in the northern Intermountain West. He is particularly concerned about declining populations of amphibians and reptiles. Dr. Peterson has considerable experience in the field ecology of amphibians and reptiles, especially in the Pacific Northwest. He has coauthored books on the amphibians and reptiles of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and on the reptiles of Washington and Oregon. He has published on the thermal biology of snakes in Ecology, Physiological Zoology, and Animal Behaviour. He is an expert in applying a variety of technologies (e.g., radiotelemetry, automated data acquisition, and GIS) to ecological studies of amphibians and reptiles and has authored papers on these subjects in several books (Wildlife 2000:Populations; Standard Methods in Measuring Biodiversity: Amphibians; Sampling Amphibians in Lentic Environments; Status and Conservation of U.S. Amphibians). He helped prepare the Idaho habitat conservation assessments and strategies for the Coeur d'Alene Salamander (Plethodon idahoensis) and the Columbia Spotted Frog (Rana luteiventris). His laboratory has conducted herpetological research for the Biological Resources and National Mapping Disciplines of the USGS, the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Energy, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho National Guard, Idaho Power Company, Monsanto, the National Park Service, the National Science Foundation, Potlatch Corporation, Simplot, the USDA Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission. He served on numerous expert panels for the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project. He and his students maintain a comprehensive, computerized database for the amphibians and reptiles of Idaho and are helping to develop monitoring programs for amphibians and reptiles in Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. He co-wrote the Gap Analysis models for amphibians and reptiles in Montana and is currently testing and revising the Gap Analysis models for the amphibians and reptiles of Idaho.  Current projects include using a variety of geotechnologies (GPS, GIS, and remote sensing) to design herpetofaunal surveys, conducting herpetological surveys for the Department of the Interior's Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) and National Park Service, extending GAP analysis models to finer spatial scales, reviewing the literature on the effects of roads on amphibians and reptiles, and developing herpetological information systems for land managers.

    Peterson received the Outstanding Herpetologist award from the Idaho Herpetological Society in 1997, the Professional Wildlifer Award from the Idaho Chapter of the Wildlife Society in 1998, an ISU outstanding researcher award in 1999, an ISU outstanding public service award in 2000, the ISU distinguished public service award in 2001, and an ISU outstanding researcher award in 2002.