Here I am.
As you may be able to tell from the photograph, I am a scruffy field biologist.
Most of my favorite days are spent outside, studying and taking pictures
of cool critters.
I got my training in scruffy biologyhood at Cornell University.
There I was a biology major, concentrating in Ecology and Systematics.
I guess I liked it so much that I'm back here in
Ithaca, New York. I worked
as the field leader for a professor in the E+S department studying
the population ecology of tree swallows, which basically means I got
pooped on a lot by the birds I took out of the mist net, and attacked
by the geese nesting in our study site.
Now I am working in the Psychology department, running experiments in the development of sexual partner preference in zebra finches.
There are many perks to being a field biologist. Gobs of money is NOT one of them. Getting to work outside with interesting animals IS one. So is getting to Travel.
Field
Biologist: Will Travel. This philosophy took me half way
around the world to study a species of mildly venomous snakes. The brown
tree snake (Boiga irregularis) to be precise. The
snake was accidently introduced to Guam about 50 years ago, and has subsequently
eaten holes through the island's ecosystem.
MORE on the brown tree snake.
My
next field opportunity was in the sweltering, flooded, mosquito-plagued
central savanna region of Venezuela, known as the Llanos (YA-nos). I was
an assistant for a study investigating the physiological and reproductive
ecology of a teeny tiny species of parrot, the green rumped parrotlet
(Forpus passerinus).
For more on Venezuelan birds or
reptiles and amphibians that I saw...
When
I'm not in Ithaca, or Guam, or Venezuela, or somewhere inbetween, I find
a home with my parents in Durham, North Carolina. That's where my faithful
animal companions are now, including my dog Sandy and my everglades rat
snake (Elaphe obsoleta rossalleni) Angie. I also have a
ball python named Damien (he will also answer to Damey or Pookie). I can't
find a good picture of him, but to see what a ball python looks like,
click here.
Some Links...
- NCSSM
- The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics is an inovative state supported residential school offering educational opportunities to high school juniors and seniors throughout North Carolina. The School is located in Durham.
- VIREO
- Visual Resources for Ornithology is a photographic archive maintained by the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, containing pictures of thousands of species of birds from all over the world. I have submitted 29 of my photographs there.
- Reptiles
- I pulled all of my reptile links from this page. Check it out!
Thanks for stoppin' by! You can reach me at ahk1@cornell.edu
Bye!