So you think you want to establish a career in which you work with reptiles and amphibians. If that is the case, this article is for you. Why did I write an article on how to get what seems like an easy job to get? First, there are many people who contact zoos, museums and websites to ask that question. While there are some pamphlets available that briefly address the issue (ASIH, undated; SSAR, 1985), there are some other published resources available (Barthel (2004); Sprackland and McKeown, 1995, 1997; Sprackland, 2000). There are some guides to enter the academic world of biology (i.e., Janovy, 1985), but these generally focus on professional careers in the university world, while the field of biology is much broader than herpetology or even the Organic zoology This article, then, provides professional colleagues with a resource that can help them answer specific questions from their clients.
Second, many people do not consider a career in herpetology or zoology until they reach the stage where it has become clear that their collections have exceeded their personal resources. Either they wish to expand their contact with large reptiles in a zoo or they may wish to participate in significant field or laboratory studies. Among the ranks of this group are many experienced and competent herpetoculturists, and they form a significant group that seeks information on how to “become a professional.”
Career options I: the private sector
There are probably more payment opportunities in the private sector than can be found between zoos and combined academic markets, although it may also be safe to say that relatively few private sector jobs will pay a living wage. Among the jobs that can be classified as “private sector” are those that receive funds as commercial businesses for profit. Typical jobs would include animal dealers, pet shop workers, breeders, speakers and writers. For most of these positions, success will be based largely on experience and knowledge, from any source that obtains it, and less on formal academic training. Some notable herpetologists came from the private sector ranks, including Lawrence Klauber, Constantine Ionides, E. Ross Allen, Steve Irwin and Hans-Georg Horn, as well as many of the most knowledgeable contemporary reptile breeders.
Working in the private sector generally has two paths available to you. First, you can work for someone who owns a reptile-related business. Payment is variable in such situations, and may be based more on the financial condition of the business than on any experience it may provide. Perhaps the most rewarding route financially is to operate your own business. Many commercial breeders begin by specializing in a single species (such as leopard geckos) or a genus (such as rat / corn snakes). From there, it can branch out to handle other species, or it can remain a specialized distributor and satisfy your personal passion for exotic reptiles with a private collection.
There are also business of herpetological supplies, school teachers and providers of food for reptiles, among other capacities. The key to making any of these companies work is to address them as serious business activities. Take some business classes or buy some good books on how to write a business plan (essential to get loans) and run a small business. Take advantage of the free advice services of friends in business or the SCORE program of the US government. UU. (Service Corps Of Retired Executives), where experienced entrepreneurs will review business plans and loan applications, discuss accounting and inventory control and be available to help in a myriad of ways that will make your life easier and that businesses They will be more likely to succeed.
Career options II: zoos
It was once true that if he was willing to clean cages and apprentices under an “old timer”, he could obtain a position even in the most prestigious zoos. However, in the last third of the twentieth century, a variety of factors in zoos had changed dramatically. Operational costs, including salaries and benefits, public services, insurance, the cost of animals and increased competition for visitors’ dollars, made it essential to streamline operations and ensure better trained personnel since their hiring date. It was expected that people wishing to work in animal care departments would have completed a two-year associate’s degree in biology, animal husbandry or zookeeper training. It is now much more likely that a zoo wants new hires to own a bachelor’s degree and have some years & # 39; Experience as a zoo volunteer or as a part-time worker. Going to administration may require that you have a master’s degree as well.
Why all this focus on academic grades? There are several reasons, and we will examine them in detail. First, of course, is that many employers see the completion of a university degree as an indicator of their ability to take on a long-term project, with all its ups and downs, and finalize. An associate degree program at one of the few community colleges that offers such a course of study will consist of much more practical (or “practical”) time working in a small zoo than a student would obtain in a traditional university setting. The two-year course is vigorous, and potential zookeepers will be trained in all lines of the zoo world, and will be exposed to the administrative, administrative and care tasks of birds and large mammals associated with a wide spectrum of possible career positions. The most traditional and popular four-year university degree path may involve little practical experience in maintaining the zoo, but it offers a very wide range of classes that include English (good communication skills are expected from new employees), math, history , Western civilization, philosophy, chemistry, physics, biology and a variety of optional or optional courses. There is quite little focus on zoology during the four-year program, so a candidate who can “resist” is seen as a complete individual with a solid background in science and who can complete a long-term project that seems to have little relationship. Direct with the ultimate goal.
The second reason to want to have a solid university education in the new hiring of zookeepers is because animals are increasingly expensive to acquire, maintain and replace. Zoo managers rightly expect modern caregivers to know much more about the anatomy, physiology, behavior and diseases of the animals for which they will be responsible. The caretaker is the first line of action to keep animals healthy and recognize when something may be wrong, and the better trained you are, the better he or she should be to handle that responsibility. The university teaches students how to research, and the zookeeper who works may have to use the library, online or professional contact sources to obtain the information necessary for animal welfare.
Breeding was once the rare and highly advertised achievement of few zoos, and then only for large loads, usually of mammals. Efforts prior to 1965 often focused on the so-called “postage stamp collections” of animals, where zoos would try to obtain a specimen of as many species as possible. With the application in the mid-1960s of the US Lacey Act. UU., The establishment of the Endangered Species Act and the start of CITES, zoos had limited capabilities to acquire new animals. It quickly became fashionable, responsible and fiscally necessary to learn to breed more species and use the progeny to populate zoo collections. During the pioneer days of captive breeding, zookeepers with a greater knowledge of the physiology, reproductive biology and natural history of the animals under their care had a decided advantage over other caregivers. These staff members became crucial to the continued success of many zoo missions, helping to boost the recruitment of new employees with a more solid and diverse training in the science of biology.
Third, many zoos have been subject to greater scrutiny by both the general public, who want to make sure that the zoo’s mission is really being accomplished, as well as by groups advocating the maintenance of animals in captivity. Today’s zookeeper needs to know how to educate the public about the needs of animals and the important roles that well-managed zoo parks play. An indispensable part of being a zookeeper is having a broad vision of the mission along with exceptional speaking and / or writing skills. Each caregiver is also an ambassador for his zoo and the value of all zoos to the visiting public. Employers often equate their ability to handle these tasks with the training they received at the university.
Career options III: Academy
The academic world has a lot to offer, but it also demands a lot. Careers under this title mainly include university positions, almost all with teaching and research responsibilities, and the small number of museum curators. To enter any of these fields, a candidate must have a PhD in Philosophy (Ph.D.), and most jobs now also require that he or she have held a postdoctoral position. There has been a good amount of discussion since the mid-1990s to create a new post-doctorate. grade, the chancellorate, but most of the criticisms argue that by the time a student achieves that grade, he will face the retirement age!
An academic herpetologist may have the greatest freedom to explore topics of personal interest, especially in a museum environment, but even there the work will require experience and skills that extend beyond the study of reptiles. University and museum professionals enter the profession as assistant professors or assistant curators. They will be commissioned to create a research program funded by grants, which they must collect with limited institutional assistance. Obtaining a grant means having a solid research proposal, excellent writing and budgeting skills, and the resources that will guarantee the promised results if you receive funds. Your employer will also expect a certain number of peer-reviewed publications (those that appear in scientific or technical publications) from you. If, after three to seven years, depending on the employer, you meet these objectives, you will probably be offered an upgrade to associate professor or associate curator and tenure. Tenure means that, except for an extremely serious liability violation, you have a job for life.
But it is not as easy as the previous paragraph describes obtaining tenure. It must also be part of committees, provide input on institutional projects and establish some kind of interaction with the community in general. Each of these tasks is designed to give you the opportunity to be seen as an authority on your subject and prepare it for greater responsibilities in the future. Your success or failure will also influence whether or not you earn ownership. In addition to all this, university teachers are also expected to teach, which means that they will essentially be accused of two very different jobs.
University Preparation
University education is not for everyone, and with the growing competition for the available entry rates in classes each year, along with the increase in tuition and related expenses, it should be a well planned and carefully considered step (Sprackland, 1990). For those of you who are still in high school, or for parents whose children want to prepare for a career in herpetology, I will offer some basic advice on how to prepare for college. The sooner you can start your efforts, the better, because you will need three solid years of the right kind of high school courses to be seriously considered for admission to a good university. Opt for the college preparation path and take three or more years of math (algebra, geometry, algebra II and calculus), three lab-based sciences (biology, chemistry and physics), and work to excel in English, Particularly composition. For the third year of high school you should be researching universities. Find out which schools offer titles and courses of interest; Not all schools offer zoology paths, and of those that do, not all offer herpetology courses. Start reading one of the main scientific journals (Copeia, Herpetologica and Journal of Herpetology) and study where the authors have interests that match yours. Each scientific article includes the author’s address and, almost universally, the email address.
When you find authors you want to contact, do so. Write a brief polite letter introducing yourself and expressing interest in studying herpetology. Request information about the author’s university, its courses, degree offers and admission requirements. Plan ahead, because the entrance requirements vary slightly between universities.
If you choose to go to the community or junior college route, there are some differences in your procedure from what you would do to enter a four-year school. You do not need the same rigorous load of high school courses to enter a community college, and the entrance requirements vary from none to minor. There is little difference for the student between the first two years of the university, either in the community or in four-year universities, and in many cases the first is a better educational treatment. Why? Because unlike four-year colleges, community colleges do not employ graduate students to teach. The faculty almost universally has at least one masters degree plus several years & # 39; experience as instructors, providing a significant potential advantage over the teacher of graduate students.
Once enrolled in the community college, you must meet two goals if you finally want to get a solid degree or a higher degree. First, be sure to register for courses that will transfer credit to the four-year school you plan to attend. If this is not possible, some universities do not recognize that some community college courses are appropriate, then have an alternative university to sign up or go directly to the four-year school of your choice. Second, take each course as seriously as you can. Work to get an average of A, especially in science, math and English composition courses. Don’t waste your time in community college, assuming it’s the easy alternative to a four-year school; This is rarely the case. Many community college instructors are leaders in their respective fields. The late Albert Schwartz was a herpetologist who probably did more than any other zoologist to study and document the herpetofauna of the Caribbean islands, and is still extremely respected by his peer community. However, throughout his career, Schwartz taught only at a community college. Several distinguished herpetologists are doing it even today.
When enrolling in college, do you have to enroll in the arts degree or science degree program? There is a small difference, although few students (or graduates) know what it is. In the undergraduate degree in science (BS), he has almost all of his courses determined by a plan established by the university. You must take specific classes and have very few elective options. The bachelor of arts (BA) is more liberal; He still has a significant number of mandatory courses, but he has much more freedom in elective class elections. Because my interests were so broad in my undergraduate days, that I wanted to study paleontology, Latin and philosophy, as well as zoology, I opted for the BA program. If I had taken a BS route, I could not have taken such a variety of classes and had still graduated in four years.
Postgraduate and postgraduate options
Graduate school is definitely not for everyone, although it is absolutely essential if you want to get an academic career or a position as a senior zoo employee. Collections managers and zookeepers often opt for a master’s degree, which provides advanced courses and the opportunity to participate in a project or activity that has a direct relationship with the requirements of an advanced professional career. A PhD is a research degree, which means that the recipient has been trained to perform original studies. This is the necessary degree for teacher and curatorial positions. The vast majority of people who plan to obtain a doctorate do not need to obtain a master’s degree along the way.
Master’s programs take 18 months to three years of full-time effort and include a large number of courses, some research or work as a research assistant in a laboratory, and often require a written thesis based on library or research work . . Some master’s programs will require you to work as a research assistant or as a teaching assistant, supervising laboratory sessions. Doctoral programs in the United States begin in a manner similar to the master’s route, and with classes, laboratory or teaching assignments. Upon completing a set of qualification exams, the student becomes a candidate for the degree and begins to work on an original research project, which will eventually be written as a thesis. If the thesis passes the scrutiny of the faculty, the Ph.D. It is rewarded. US PhD programs UU. They generally cover five to seven years of full-time effort, after which the graduate with herpetological orientation faces a daunting labor market. If you want a doctorate, go ahead and get it, but don’t assume it is a guarantee of an academic job. During the particularly tight labor market of the 1980s and 1990s, my contemporaries joked that Ph.D. It meant “Pizza Hut Delivery.” (This seemed somewhat appropriate since we survived graduate school by ordering astronomical numbers of Pizza Hut pizzas to our laboratories; now “the cabin” could pay our salaries!)
If you decide to enter graduate school, start your job search no later than one year before planning to obtain a master’s degree, or two and a half years before a doctorate. Again, read the newspapers, attend conferences and discover where the people with whom you would be compatible as a new colleague are. What research could complement yours and help you on the road to tenure? Make those contacts early and make sure you have people who answer for you when those precious jobs are available.
CAREER OPTIONS IV: MISCELLANEOUS
Perhaps none of the above categories apply to your interests. That still leaves a significant number of possible races that will allow at least some work with reptiles. Most require a bachelor’s degree, although a job advertisement will often claim “preferred master’s degree.” Among the options are:
Government biologists: positions with federal and state wildlife agencies sometimes allow the study of herpetofauna. The obvious agencies include fishing and wildlife, hunting and environment services. However, the US Geological Survey. In the US, forest services and sometimes military research also perform biological work (the U.S. Army and Navy operated a valuable snake venom research facility for a long time).
Teacher: Both primary and secondary school teachers have numerous opportunities to familiarize children with the natural world. In many states, the teacher must have a degree in a content area, for example, biology or zoology, while other states accept applicants whose degree is in education. Check carefully to determine the requirements for the state in which you wish to teach.
Community college instructor: As tertiary schools have increased their dependence on part-time instructors with lower salaries (who generally do not receive health or retirement benefits), the ranks of part-time workers have skyrocketed. While working conditions are extremely variable, part-time workers can expect to have limited or no space in the campus office, have no permanent faculty and perform the same teaching tasks as full-time colleagues, but 40% at 70% of the hourly payment rate. The rare full-time opening in this market is considerably more attractive and does not entail research responsibilities, search for grants or “publish or perish.” In general, the candidate must have a master’s degree in biology, teaching experience and the ability to teach some combination of general biology, microbiology and anatomy and physiology.
Writers: Natural history writing has its ups and downs, but many herpetologists have earned at least some money from commercial publications. To begin, choose a niche, such as writing about herpetoculture or, more broadly, about a specific group of animals. Financial success will ultimately depend on reliability, excellent writing skills and the ability to expand to reach broader audiences. The more biological or scientific topics you can cover, the greater your potential income. Although herpetology is my great passion, I have also published on topics of education, philosophy, submicron electronics, non-metallic conductors, evolution, poison research and history.
Photographer / illustrator: just as a writer of a financially successful nature must reach a wide audience, so must the photographer or illustrator. Few, if any, of these professionals earn a living wage just by illustrating reptiles; There is more security in animals and nature shots in general.
Veterinarian: a safe field if you do not plan to care only for reptiles. Like the graduate school in general, there are serious academic obstacles to face and competition for vacancies (there are fewer veterinary schools than medical schools) is fierce.
REFERENCES
Ackerman, Lowell (ed.). 1997. Biology, breeding and health care of reptiles. 3 volumes Publications of TFH, Neptune, NJ.
ASIH, no date. Job opportunities for the herpetologist. American Society of Ictiologists
and herpetologists, Washington, DC
Asthma, Stephen. 2001. Stuffed animals and pickled heads: the culture and evolution of natural history museums. Oxford University Press.
Barthel, Tom. 2004. Cold-blooded races. Reptiles 12 (12): 64-75.
Burcaw, G. Ellis. 1975. Introduction to the museum’s work. American Association of State and Local History, Nashville.
Cato, P. and C. Jones (eds.). 1991. Natural history museums, directions for growth. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock.
Janovy, John. 1985. By becoming a biologist. Harper & Row, New York.
Myers, George. 1970. How to become an ichthyologist. TFH Publications, Neptune, NJ.
Pietsch, T. and W. Anderson (eds.). 1997. Collection building in ichthyology and herpetology.
American Society of Ictiologists and Herpetologists Special Publication 3, Lawrence, KS.
Rajan, T. 2001. Would Darwin receive a grant today? Natural History 110 (5): 86.
Sprackland, Robert. 2001a. To the parents of a young herpetologist. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 36 (2): 29-30.
Sprackland, Robert. 1992. Giant lizards. TFH Publications, Neptune, NJ.
Sprackland, Robert. 1990. University herpetology: is it for you? Bulletin 9 (1) of the Herpetological Society of Northern California: 14-15.
Sprackland, Robert. and Hans-Georg Horn. 1992. The importance of the contributions of fans to herpetology. The Vivarium 4 (1): 36-38.
Sprackland, Robert. and Sean McKeown. 1997. Herpetology and herpetoculture as a career. Reptiles 5 (4): 32-47.
Sprackland, Robert. and Sean McKeown. 1995. The path to a career in herpetology. The Vivarium 6 (1): 22-34.
SSAR 1985. Herpetology as a career. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Cleveland.
Winsor, Mary. 1991. Reading of the form of nature: comparative zoology in the Agassiz Museum. University of Chicago Press.
Zug, G., L. Vitt and J. Caldwell. 2001. Herpetology: an introductory biology of amphibians and reptiles. Second edition. Academic Press, San Francisco.
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