Hi Ryan-
This question is asked here frequently, and that may be the reason that others aren't jumping to answer your specific questions. You should probaly scroll down to some of the other posts and the answers contained therein, as most of what you have asked is answered there. However, I'll take a stab at it here as well.

Herpetology is a large field, and should be considered a subset of biology. All herpetologists are biologists (at least the academically trained ones are), thus any university that has a great biology/ecology/zoology/natural resources program should start you on your way. However, you generally don't start specializing in herpetological studies until you're a graduate student when you design and undertake a study of some target herp or assemblage of herps with one or more specific questions in mind. What you can do as an undergraduate, however, is go to a school with one or more active research herpetologists. Take the classes they teach (which may or may not include a herpetology class), and make sure to volunteer on studies when they ask for volunteers. Help thier graduate students and apply yourself to ALL your classes (even mundane chemistry, physics, philosophy, sociology, etc. classes). In other words, work hard! You will be noticed as someone who applies themselves, who can "jump through the hoops," and who can be counted on. That will open up many options for you in due time, and that is the largest part of the struggle, I think.

Regarding SPECIFIC schools, many people in posts below have made many useful suggestions. To that, I would add that maybe you should chose a region in which you would want to gather experience. Want to learn about Floridian herps? Check out the Florida schools. Want to work in the southwest? Check out Arizonan schools. Visit webpages for professors at those universities, do Google searches for "Florida herpetology" or "Arizona herpetology," and, as you start narrowing down choices, contact graduate students in the departments that you're considering. Most grad students will be more than willing to talk to someone that is considering attending thier school and that may be available as a volunteer.

Here in Arizona there are three universities and all have good bio programs and enthusiastic herpetologists. Here at the University of Arizona in Tucson, there are 2 routes to take to pursue herp related work. There's the evolutionary ecology route, which tends to focus on theoretical issues involving herps, and the natural resources route, which focuses on more applied herp-related issues (i.e. fieldwork and conservation related problems) however, there is much "cross-pollination" between departments. Many of the schools you will consider may have a similar set-up. Anyway, I hope this helps. Browse the other threads and feel free to contact me with questions-
Sincerely-
Eric

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