Graduate school salamander research

[corey]

Hi I'm new to the site but I was just wondering if anyone could help me. I am currently an undergrad @ UW madison and am searching for the right graduate school for me. I was wondering if anyone knows of any good graduate school programs/faculty members of universities in the united states that research salamanders

 

[edward]

You could check out Appalachia State University where Dr. Van deVender is located. There is also Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, MO where Dr. Mathis is located.
Your best bet is to check out some of the researchers in the journals and then look to see where they are located.

Ed

(Message edited by ed on November 26, 2005)

 

[chuck]

Berkley

 

[mike]

Hi Corey,

When you are looking for a graduate school, it is important to focus on the type of research you are interested in, as well as the study organism. There are geneticists and ecologists that work with salamanders, but the type of research they do is generally very different. Talk to faculty who know you at UW and get their advice. Ed's advice is also very good - browse the most recent volumes of journals in the primary literature of the field you are interested in (e.g. Conservation Biology or Animal Behaviour), and investigate those people publishing papers you find interesting.

Also, don't necessarily limit yourself to salamander researchers. In many fields, people work on study organisms that are different from that of their advisors, and they do very well. Keep in mind they type of research that is being conducted, not just the study organism.

Finally, if you haven't done any independent research on your own, you should try to get this experience before you apply for grad schools. This will help you determine if you really want to spend 2-6 years with low pay and long hours to pursue research.

Here's just a few examples of labs doing interesting work on salamanders:

http://www2.eve.ucdavis.edu/shafferlab/index.htm

http://biology.uky.edu/mcb/voss.htm

http://www.biosci.missouri.edu/semlitsch/

http://ib.berkeley.edu/labs/wake/wakelab.htm

Best,

Mike

(Message edited by mikebenard on November 27, 2005)

 

[john]

University of Tennessee in Knoxville - near to the self proclaimed Salamander Capital of the World.

 

[trace]

Murray State University in western KY. There were numerous caudate research projects going on while I was there about 2 years ago. They were clipping toes on tiger salamanders to age them along with other Ambystomid research. Talk to Dr. Whiteman.