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Research |
My herpetological
colleagues have called me a generalist and I suppose that term accurately
describes my research program. I am acutely aware that a generalist may
be a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none as Pianka has
so aptly pointed out in an ecological sense, and it
remains for my colleagues to judge how close I have come to mastering
anything. My opportunistic research approach has been heavily flavored by the work and person of my former major
professor, Henry Fitch. The questions I ask are those which can be
reasonably answered within the constraints imposed by working at a small
liberal arts college with no graduate students. My specific interests are
in using mark-recapture and radiotelemetry techniques to study the population
and physiological ecology of reptiles, particularly snakes and turtles. I
especially enjoy working closely with students and actively seek out promising
undergraduates to work with me. Because Harding University is primarily a
teaching university without a graduate program in biology, I also hold adjunct
appointments at various other universities where I have opportunity to interact
with graduate faculty and students and serve on graduate student committees.
"Were the whole realm of
nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all."
-Isaac Watts