# herpetology/biology



## Amphiman (Nov 8, 2007)

Does anyone know what university is considered best for a PH.d in herpetology(if that is even possible) or what steps one must take to be a herpetologist?


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

try doign a search on teh Reptiles magazine site, they have several articles regarding this matter and which schools are ranked tops in the field.


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Most universities do not have a herpetology degree (I think one of the Florida universities has one). I think that you really have to go into something like Zoology, Fisheries and Wildlife, or Ecology, Evolution and Behavior and just specialize on herpetology questions.

That's why I'm doing. I'll go into a Masters/PhD program in one of those areas and just specialize on herp questions.


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## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

There are, as far as I know, five universities in the US that offer PhDs in Herpetology, Miami (of Florida) is one of them.


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## back2eight (Dec 19, 2005)

I have found a google search with words something like "top graduate schools for biology" will bring you up a list that you can browse through. I did that for Psychology, which is my major, and got a lot of useful information.


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## Afemoralis (Mar 17, 2005)

Don't worry so much about the program- for the most part, it'll have little impact on the rest of your life.

Worry about the advisor.

Unlike med-school, or law school, going to grad school in biology (at least in the states) means you'll have one major professor you work with.

The way most folks go about choosing a program is to:
1) read the literature that is being published in your field of interest. 
2) identify people working on questions/areas that you find interesting
3) contact those people at their schools and ask about grad programs.

...and it all rolls from there. Folks at my university (UF) are working on herps in many different disciplines: ecology, systematics, physiology, ecotoxicology- all within the Zoology program. 

So the question is what in herpetology do you want to study for the rest of your life? From there I'll bet folks on the board will start recommending profs. for you to check out.

Cheers,

Afemoralis


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## dom (Sep 23, 2007)

Afemoralis said:


> Don't worry so much about the program- for the most part, it'll have little impact on the rest of your life.
> 
> Worry about the advisor.
> 
> ...



you go to UF right now??

im at valencia in orlando going for pre biology.. im not sure if i want to transfer to UCF or UF after what do you think about UFs biology program


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

Actually, I think Sea (Afemoralis) is on the faculty at UF, but I may be wrong...


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

I would say you should worry about the program to some degree. Faculty is a key issue and the main one, of course, but along the lines of deciding what you want to do, you also want to be sure that the program has the facilities at your disposal that you'll need for that specialization (also some programs seem to hold more weight than others in this particular field).


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