So are you a NY State resident?

SUNY ESF is a good school, and I have several friends who went there. Look over the website, there was a guy there doing work on the Sistrurus in NY.

Also, look at Cornell through the Ag school (it is part of SUNY) as a biology or Natural resources major. They have an undergraduate herpetology club, and three herpetologists on the faculty:
http://www.rso.cornell.edu/chs/

I believe Dale Madison is at SUNY Binghamton, and he does a lot of work on salamanders.

There is a herp systematist at SUNY Stony Brook, John Wiens, who you may want to look up.

I am probably missing some other herpetologists in the SUNY system, but those are who I can think of off the top of my head. If you have any other specific questions, feel free to send me an email: mfbenard 'at' ucdavis.edu

All the best,

Mike