Fugavi, when you say "do herpetology" do you mean Honors, higher degree or some diploma course? I am not familiar with the Open Unis, hence my question.
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Fugavi, when you say "do herpetology" do you mean Honors, higher degree or some diploma course? I am not familiar with the Open Unis, hence my question.
saltuarius
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JCU does offer a course during your third year of a BSc in Tropical Biology every second year called Australian Herpetology but it is simply a two week intensive course over the holidays. If you want to study reptiles and amphibians your best bet is to do a BSc in Biology or environmental science and then choose your supervisors and either do an honours or a masters on the group you want to work with. It all depends on what your interests are and by choosing your supervisors wisely (ie what they study or are interested in). Basically you can choose to steer your career in that direction but you need to have the foundation of a biological BSc first. In most cases the animals that scientists/herpetologists study are merely the 'vehicle' you use in order to answer broader questions ie. its not "i want to study snakes" and thats it. Its more of a "I'm interested in this...and by looking at snakes or other reptiles it can help me to answer that question. Broader picture always.
Hope this helps
ok heres the exception to my reply above...if its conservation based then you can pick your target species because you like and care about them. Even then you still need to pick out a specific aspect of their ecology/behaviour/biology (or threatening process) to look at further.
Hope this helps
ok heres the exception to my reply above...if its conservation based then you can pick your target species because you like and care about them. Even then you still need to pick out a specific aspect of their ecology/behaviour/biology (or threatening process) to look at further.
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Good point about choosing supervisors. That's where the 3 years BSc are handy, you get to know the staff and their areas of interest. At JCU, Ross is onto frogs and Lyn into lizards, so there is kind of a gap when it comes to snakes. That's not to say that either of them couldn't supervise a snake project but they may not be very interested.
Bachelor of Natural science/Animal Science you can go on to honours, masters or PhD. Just looked it up again through JCU and with a BSc (advanced) or equivalent through the school of Marine and Tropical Biology, there is a specific course in Herpetology No BZ5725, it is also an option through Zoology.
Haven't looked at the JCU part fully yet though.
Wasn't Dr Rick Shine looking into creating a course specialising in Herpetology?
Haven't looked at the JCU part fully yet though.
Wasn't Dr Rick Shine looking into creating a course specialising in Herpetology?
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Rick Shine is not at JCU.
saltuarius
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***Do not get put off a biological BSc because of all the other stuff you have to go through as well. You have to jump through hoops in any job. Besides there are always existing post grads at your uni with herp related projects who require help and you can volunteer with them during your undergrad to keep your mind focussed on herps if you need to. For example I spent a total of 4 months in the field radiotracking rainforest frogs during my 3years as an undergrad in addition to all the other volunteering i did. In fact even if you don't go to uni yet you can still have a look at who is studying what at your local uni and see if they require any volunteers if you want a taste of herp related science. I can guarantee you will be able to go on a trip or two and your help would be greatly appreciated!!!
Hi Guys,
I think, before people decide on a university degree they need to make up their mind about what they actually want to do.
Do you, Colt;
1) Want to hang around cool reptiles etc, or;
2) Have a serious interest in Science
Most of the answers have skipped over the fact that to be a practicing herpetologist you are a scientist first and an reptile lover second. Herpetology is the field of zoology which concerns itself with answering basic biological questions using a reptile as the model organism. Obviously however, it does help to enjoy the group you work with because that makes the pursuit of the "science" even more interesting.
If you are more interested in having encounters with the animals than answering basic questions like "why are arboreal snakes long and thin and terrestrial snakes more bulky" then your best choice is, IMO, the Zoo career/TAFE option. If you have a questioning mind and are fascinated with the "WHY" in the world around you, then the latter may be the right option.
Some general comments, having recently come through the university system, are that if you really don't know what you want to do then don't go to uni - take a gap year (or 2/3). Almost without exception, the people I know who did not know what they wanted from Uni changed their degree, often more than once, and ended up spending much longer at uni than originally planned.
You can do a basic ecology/biology degree (Bachelor of Science; BSc) in 3 years at any Uni is Aus (I think). When you finish you have the option in doing honours or postgraduate work with any life-form you want. Snakes, lizards, birds, Koala's, E.coli or cactus! Just make sure your grades are good enough for a supervisor to accept you.
And remember, for those who are herpetologists', and did "the boring stuff" to get where they are, it is probably not because they "stuck it out" but rather that they actually enjoyed the science behind the boring stuff as well.
Final word, do what you enjoy. Don't struggle through 3 years of boring undergrad just so you can become a "herpetologist" at the end - because chances are, you won't make a very good one!
I think, before people decide on a university degree they need to make up their mind about what they actually want to do.
Do you, Colt;
1) Want to hang around cool reptiles etc, or;
2) Have a serious interest in Science
Most of the answers have skipped over the fact that to be a practicing herpetologist you are a scientist first and an reptile lover second. Herpetology is the field of zoology which concerns itself with answering basic biological questions using a reptile as the model organism. Obviously however, it does help to enjoy the group you work with because that makes the pursuit of the "science" even more interesting.
If you are more interested in having encounters with the animals than answering basic questions like "why are arboreal snakes long and thin and terrestrial snakes more bulky" then your best choice is, IMO, the Zoo career/TAFE option. If you have a questioning mind and are fascinated with the "WHY" in the world around you, then the latter may be the right option.
Some general comments, having recently come through the university system, are that if you really don't know what you want to do then don't go to uni - take a gap year (or 2/3). Almost without exception, the people I know who did not know what they wanted from Uni changed their degree, often more than once, and ended up spending much longer at uni than originally planned.
You can do a basic ecology/biology degree (Bachelor of Science; BSc) in 3 years at any Uni is Aus (I think). When you finish you have the option in doing honours or postgraduate work with any life-form you want. Snakes, lizards, birds, Koala's, E.coli or cactus! Just make sure your grades are good enough for a supervisor to accept you.
And remember, for those who are herpetologists', and did "the boring stuff" to get where they are, it is probably not because they "stuck it out" but rather that they actually enjoyed the science behind the boring stuff as well.
Final word, do what you enjoy. Don't struggle through 3 years of boring undergrad just so you can become a "herpetologist" at the end - because chances are, you won't make a very good one!
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saximus
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Well put Dan
saltuarius
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well put
oops i was a bit late on that one
oops i was a bit late on that one
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