Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,
Im writing this because truth be told, I need some help! I am fresh out of highschool, and have yet to find a fullproof way to become a "certified" or whatever Herpetologist. The only way to become a professional Herpetologist that I have heard of is to get a degree in Biology, and then find and take a class in Herpetology. This sounds fine and dandy, yet it is very hard to locate a college that offers the class. But I would also like to hear any other options if anyone cares to share there knowledge with me. Just to let everyone get an idea of who and where I am, I am 19 years old and I live in the Southeast United States, in the great state of Georgia.
Link

What do you want to do as a Herpetologist? There are different avenues to being a professional Herpetologist. Generally speaking you would want to get your undergrad degree, four year degree, in wildlife biology or some similar field of study. You do not actually major in Herpetology. After you complete your 4 year Bachelors you move on to a graduate program. Here you do not major in Herpetology but you emphasize it. There are two levels of graduate school, Masters and Doctorate. In a Masters program you will continue in upper division classes and submit a thesis of study at the end of the program. The thesis topic would be a specific area of study, in your case some topic in Herpetology. In a Doctorate program you will complete and submit a paper based on original research, again in your specific area of study. You would probably start working in the field following your undergraduate degree and definitely following your Masters. These jobs will be low pay and assist in government programs or other research projects. These jobs are necessary to keep you in the field and to build your resume and credentials. If you complete your Doctorate you will probably wind up teaching at the University level while conducting research on the side. A university will require you to be consistently published in research journals in order to be tenured. If you are employed as a curator at a museum you will also have to be actively published. There are other jobs such as display institutions like zoos where you may become a keeper and then curator with a 4 year degree. Keep in mind all of these professional positions will be quite competitive. It will take a long time to work your way up and pay scales are relatively low. I also suggest you get in touch with various grad students and discuss their experiences. They are your BEST source of information. You need to make a list of apropriate universities. Remember you can also be an amateur Herpetologist as part of another profession and still be a contributor to the field. Steve Irwin would fall under this category.

I am from Michigan, but at least two of our big universities up here have herpetology classes. I took the class as an undergraduate and am now getting my masters in biology. Eventually Iwould like to get my PhD in herpetology or animal behavior. While I enjoy the herpetoloy specialization, I would not reccommend just that. If you plan on making yourself "marketable", in my opinion it is best to have something else to your name as well. For instance, my professor, Dr. Gillingham, is a world-renowned herpetologist, but he is aslo an animal behaviorist. He teaches zoology, comparative vertebrate anatomy, herpetology, anatomical prep, and animal behavior. However, I have found that zoos are occasionally looking for herpetologists.
I hope this helps you find what you're looking for.