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San Jose Reptile Show - Great Deals - Santa Clara Fairgrounds - THIS WEEKEND! |
Posted by Stewart Stick on March 14, 2003 at 01:50:02:
In Reply to: An Exciting Summer!!>>>>>> posted by RMB on March 13, 2003 at 23:09:52:
Conratulations Ryan, thats fantastic!!! I'm sure there is going to be a lot of jealous herpers. I look forward to hearing some stories from the field. I have yet to find a five-lined skink in Ontario, but I have seen one in Florida.
Good Luck and have a great summer
:Well I recently found out today that after a grueling interview process through many qualified University Student candidates I was selected to be a part of a small research team studying the evolutionary genetics of the five-lined skink (Eumeces fasciatus).
:I am not trying to blow my own horn but I am rather excited and thought I would share where it would be appreciated.
:This is the outline for this paid position:
:1. Conservation Biology Field Assistant (April 28 - June 27)
:-contacting, and interacting with various academic contacts, as well as state and regional wildlife officers during field work throughout the mid-eastern States (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut)
:-obtaining and applying general natural history knowledge as well as more taxa-specific knowledge during data collection in the field
:-maintaining a field data collection database with information including GPS data, meteorological data (ambient temperature, humidity level, barometer measurements, and dewpoint measurements)
:-collecting habitat, morphology and genetic data for populations of the five-lined skink (a small-bodied, provincially endangered lizard) through use of digital calipers, and surgical instruments for non-destructive tissue sampling of captured individuals
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:2. Biodiversity Survey Coordinator (June 30 - July 25)
:-planning and implementing a herpetofaunal biodiversity field survey in Pinery Provincial Park (southwestern Ontario) alongside park ecologist and employees; this provincial park contains a multitude of at-risk amphibian and reptile species and desperately requires knowledge of basic species occurrences and estimates of population sizes
:-communicating between academic supervisors and park officials will be of key importance and will involve a written report summarizing results of the biodiversity survey (e.g. species occurrences and monitoring trends)
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:3. Conservation Genetics/Molecular Laboratory Assistant (July 28 - August 18)
:-learning and performing a variety of molecular techniques in a conservation genetics laboratory
:-extracting DNA from tissue samples collected during field work using standard phenol/chloroform methods
:-amplifying regions of DNA with species-specific primers using standard PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technique
:-performing manual (radioactive-labeled primers) and automated (dye-labeled primers used with high-tech equipment) DNA microsatellite genotyping
:So that's the proposal! I worked very hard to attain the academic qualifications over the last few years and I also fought hard for this position. So it just goes to show you that if you focus on specific goals than anything is possible, even landing a job in herpetology.
:Thanks for reading. I plan to keep my fellow Canadians apprised of our research.
:Cheers,
:Ryan M Bolton
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