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I have always loved animals and became a
herp lover at an early age. My first true herp love was of
frogs. Growing up in the humid climate of southern
Louisiana, my dad had built a manmade creek and waterfall
throughout our backyard. This played host to a huge
assortment of frogs and toads, which I dearly loved and was
constantly fascinated by. I can remember following behind my
dad at the age of 5 while he mowed the grass, diligently on
the lookout for any critters that needed to be temporarily
relocated to a safe place.
I went to college, majoring in Animal Science,
thinking I would enter the field of veterinary medicine. I
had spent my years in high school working at a vet clinic.
But during my undergraduate, I worked as a student worker
for one of my professors, helping him conduct research in
the area of ruminant nutrition. I was hooked! Onto graduate
school to obtain my M.S. in ruminant nutrition at
Mississippi State. After that I went to the University of
Kentucky and worked for 2 yrs on my doctorate in ruminant
nutrition. But, after 2 long years of grueling work, I
decided to call it quits for the time being. I moved back
into the deep south, and obtained my current job with the
National Wildlife Research Center (part of USDA/APHIS) in
Mississippi.
Our field station studies fish-eating birds and allows us to
travel across North America to study them.
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