Information
for Potential Graduate Students:
(Idaho State University
Herpetology Laboratory)
Summer 2004
1. I currently have a full complement of graduate students
for the academic year 2004/2005 but am considering potential students for
2005/2006.
2. Here are some links that you will find useful in learning about the ISU Herpetology Laboratory, the Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, and Idaho:
This site contains my CV, information on my research and teaching, and various links.
This site contains information on the ISU Herpetology Laboratory, including personnel, publications, and projects in progress.You can also access graduate student web pages under Personnel.
3. Here is my current graduate student
situation: one Ph.D., and four M.S. (1 off campus) students.
4. Funding: Most of my students have been funded by
teaching assistantships or fellowships; some have been funded by research
assistantships.
5. In general, I am looking for students with the
following characteristics: curiosity, high degree of interest/commitment to a
professional career in organismal biology (research, education, conservation,
management, etc.), strong work ethic (willingness to work evenings, weekends,
breaks, etc., as needed), good communication skills (especially writing),
experience working with amphibians or reptiles, good technical skills
(especially in computing), good field skills, and moderate or better grades and
GRE scores.
6. Almost all of the students in my lab have studied
amphibians and/or reptiles. Most projects have involved a field
component. Focal areas of research include spatial distributions,
population trends, habitat relationships/modeling, physiological ecology (esp.
temperature and water relationships), and conservation threats to amphibian and
reptile populations (e.g., habitat fragmentation, introduced species, and
disease).
7. Possible future projects for which I am seeking
funding that may provide opportunities for graduate students include
herpetological surveys and monitoring for governmental agencies (such as the
Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service) in Idaho and the
Greater Yellowstone Area, and remote sensing and modeling of amphibian and
reptile habitat.
8. I am especially interested in sponsoring
students who would like to work on landscape genetics of amphibians and
reptiles in the Northern Intermountain West, the thermal ecology of snakes, habitat
modeling of amphibians and reptiles, the effects of habitat patch size and
edges on reptile distributions, and the effects of roads on amphibian and
reptile populations.
9. If you have not already done so, send me a
description of your professional interests, career goals, and a copy of your
CV/resume with contact information for references. Also, send your GPA for all
your undergraduate course work and for your upper division courses, and, if you
have taken the GRE, your raw and percentile GRE scores. See below for my
contact information.
10. Arrange for a time when I can call you and discuss
whether you should apply to study in our laboratory and department at ISU.
11. After reading your materials and talking with you,
I’ll let you know if I think you should formally apply to our graduate
program. In our department, it is necessary for a faculty member to agree
to accept a student before they are admitted to the graduate program.
Again, thank you for
your interest in our graduate program.
Professor of Zoology, Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University
Curator of Herpetology, Idaho Museum of Natural History
Campus Box 8007
Idaho State University
Pocatello, Idaho 83209-8007
(208) 282-3922 (office)
(208) 282-4570 (FAX)