|
11-18 of 18 messages
|
Previous
Page 2 of 2
|
|
RE: herp trips for this year!!
|
Reply
|
|
by bush_viper17 on December 25, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
A friend of mine from N.C. are going to look around the southeast and hopefully I can save up and go to Central America somewhere.
|
| |
|
RE: herp trips for this year!!
|
Reply
|
|
by Snakeman1982 on December 28, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Well, I just got back from a couple weeks in northern Costa Rica. Had a blast and got some good herpin' and birdin' in. Porthidium nasutum, Bothriechis schlegelii, Atropoides mexicanus(DOR), Bothrops asper (of course). That's the venomous stuff ya'll may be interested in.
Over springbreak I am going to be in Eastern Mexico (Veracruz) and herpin' south down to Oaxaca. I'll also be trying to tackle some west Texas herpin' in the spring as well but may have to wait until school gets out in May so I can get at least a good 4 or 5 days in.
Then in the summer I have been invited to go to Honduras but may end up holding out for Nicaragua, somewhere else in the tropics, or southern Costa Rica for a few weeks but still haven't made complete summer plans yet.
At the very least I'll hit up either Sonora/Sinoloa Mexico or Baja California. Hopefully I can go to both Central America again and western Mexico but that all depends on finances.
So far I have no clue as to what I'll be doing for next winter break.
Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays.
Robert
|
| |
|
RE: herp trips for this year!!
|
Reply
|
|
by paleoherp on December 29, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Hey robert if you dont mind me asking when did you achieve your BSc and what are you looking into in the future ?
Shaun
|
| |
|
RE: herp trips for this year!!
|
Reply
|
|
by Snakeman1982 on December 29, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Hey Shaun,
I earned my Bachelor's degree in biology in May 2005 and started grad school this past fall. I should graduate with my master's in May 2007.
Off in the distant future, I am looking at hopefully working at a herp museum or a University that houses a large tropical herp collection so that I can teach a few biology classes each year and get a lot of research done in my own lab. I am also hoping to have graduate students of my own some day. I want to spend a couple months a year in the tropics as well. This means I need to earn a Ph.D and do a year or two at a post-doc. Then I'll be 31-34 years whenever I start my permanent University/Museum job. This is my ultimate goal for the future so we'll see what happens. It is really competitive and there are a lot more biologists with Ph.Ds than there are University jobs available.
The research I am doing now and plan on continuing is systematics research (describing new species and looking at evolutionary relationships among species, particularly with pitvipers). There aren't a lot of herpetologists that conduct morphological systematics studies anymore (they all seem to go molecular) but I am wanting to continue to study morphology, though collaborate with others that are working on molecular studies.
And just because it takes until your 30s to get a Ph.D shouldn't discourage anyone from trying because graduate school is essentially the best time to actually conduct the research you want to do. During a master's program you are given 2-3 years to do a really intense and interesting research project (usually of your choice) and then for a Ph.D you get to conduct an even larger research project of your choice (4-6 years usually). Then you write it all up and hopefully get several publications out of each of them. So you aren't actually waiting until you are in your 30s before you get to actually do what you want to do. Often, when you get a University or Museum job (after your Ph.D) you end up being even more busy and don't get to do as much research as you did while you were in graduate school because you have too many University responsibilities. And in graduate school you still have to take a lot of classes but they are all biology classes and relevant to your future, unlike undergrad where you are having to take government, humanities, and other non-biological classes that get in the way.
Robert
|
| |
|
RE: herp trips for this year!!
|
Reply
|
|
by paleoherp on December 29, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Thats cool mate . I am starting university in sept 2006 to do the BSc in zoology then i would like to do what your are and take it as far as i can. The amount of years it takes has discouraged me at times like you say.
hopefully i ll get there eventually.
Anyway good luck with your studies and take care.
Shaun
|
| |
|
RE: herp trips for this year!!
|
Reply
|
|
by Snakeman1982 on December 29, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Well Shaun,
Don't get too discouraged. Undergrad kind of sucks because you don't get to do a lot of research (although sometimes you can get lucky and work with a herpetologist as an undergrad) but you'll always have summers off when you can get out and herp a bit (sometimes even get to do herpetology internships). But after you finish your bachelor's degree in biology or zoology (4-5 years usually) you can choose a grad school and work with a professor in your chosen field and really get to do some awesome research from that point on. So it is really only 4 to 5 years of work for your undergrad that is a pain. Then the rest is fun research (along with classes, teaching, etc...) as long as you play your cards right.
Robert
|
| |
|
RE: herp trips for this year!!
|
Reply
|
|
by paleoherp on December 29, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Cheers robert. I ll stick at it because i want it so much like you do . Herping here in england certainly
isn't as much fun as over in the states and i can't afford to go away to the places i really want to yet ( Costa Rica, Kenya etc ) but thanks for your advice on degrees .
cheers
Shaun
|
| |
|
RE: herp trips for this year!!
|
Reply
|
|
by hoyta on January 13, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
anyone going to eastern north carolina this year?i'll be moving to chowan county in a couple of weeks-anyone close,i would love to meet and go hunting!its always fun to meet someone close!-adam hoyt
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
