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Few valid reasons can be given for why any professional herpetologist has not answered the question “How can I become a herpetologist?” at least once and maybe dozens of times. Perhaps he escapes to the field or his laboratory virtually all the time, eschewing people the way a leopard frog does a gartersnake, making sure no one has opportunity to ask. Or maybe she does not make herpetology look like a very fun profession, so that the question is more likely to be, “How can I avoid doing what you do?” Or more likely the herpetologist has heard such an inquiry many times but because no succinct answer was apparent, the letter, email, or in-person question was not answered. If you are a herpetologist and any of these are your reasons for not inspiring the question from youngsters, or even oldsters, about how they could become a herpetologist, and then giving them an answer, shame on you. If you are not a herpetologist and would like to know about how to become one, read on. The first step in addressing the question is to make sure the questioner and the answerer have the same definition of what herpetology is. The literal definition is that herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians, but many people asking the question really simply mean, “How can I be involved with reptiles and amphibians,” rather than necessarily wanting to know how to plan for a research career in herpetology. Taking the issue one step further, some herpetologists even argue about what a reptile is as both turtles and crocodilians, based on modern evolutionary biology, have been excluded from the class by some authorities and retained by others. Arguments have even been made by some professional herpetologists that phylogenetically all snakes are really lizards and that some lizards are more closely related to what most people call snakes than they are to other lizards. ABSTRACT: The following is the first in the JNAH series in which we address a variety of topics on herpetology based on essays from our upcoming book “How to Be a Herpetologist,”. We will also answer frequently asked questions we and other professional herpetologists receive from students, colleagues, and the general public about herpetology as a career or an avocation. J. WHITFIELD GIBBONS1 AND MICHAEL E. DORCAS2 ISSN 2333-0694

WHAT IS A HERPETOLOGIST AND HOW CAN I BECOME ONE?