Member since: June 17, 2012

A Little About Me

Intro

My name is Colin. My family used to scold me for bringing home various reptiles and amphibians from the forest. People could never seem to understand why these creatures held such sway over me. When attempting to explain my interest as a child, it would often be dismissed as a passing phase. Unfortunately for the nay sayers, curiousity and a life-long passion have led me across the globe in search of adventure and knowledge.

After Graduating with a BSc in Biology from Dalhousie university in Canada, I travelled to Japan as a teacher for Montessori International School with the intention to save money for graduate school. After teaching for two years there was an opportunity for study in Australia at JCU with the fabulous Dr. Lin Scwarzkopf, unfortunately it was not economically feasible. Thus another teaching post was procured in Thailand, where some of the most fascinating and complex ecological interactions for herpetofauna occur. After teaching highschool biology in Thailand and being offered a transitional MSc. to Ph.D. post at Suranaree Univerisity in Nakhorn Ratchasima Thailand my fully fledged career in research has begun.

I have participated in EIA analyses using herpetofauna biodiversity sampling in Namphung Dam in Sakhon Nakhon province as well as lead projects concerned with improving trap retention across broad size ranges and taxonomic background for tropical snakes. In addition my last project allowed me to put those traps into use for presence absence monitoring in a suburban landscape.

Current research

At this point my work is using passive interval sampling to determine the exact snake communities present in three forest fragment (Dipterocarp, Plantation, Evergreen) types in Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve. We are using both abundance and presence absence data for a standardized analysis that will allow real predictions on which environmental factors influence community make up most heavily.

Wish List

I am highly interested in the green vipers of Southeast Asia because of their medical importance. It would be great to study the spatial ecology for each of these cryptic species, to get a better handle on how to reduce human injuries from green vipers.

Further pet projects of mine include work with Mock vipers evolved behaviors, and Reticulate Python feeding ecology. My dream of course would be to follow in the steps of Rom Whittaker and work on the king cobras of the region in Thailand