I’m looking to pursue a career in the field of herpetology, but the college magazines are lame and don’t cover herpetology or entomology. I was just curious, what are your jobs?
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So… It has been a couple few decades since I did the college thing but there is a reason why I ended up as a geneticist despite there being an actual herpetology class and professor that was a herpetologist at my college 
Short version - You basically have two career paths; zoo or academia
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Does the research field fall into academia?
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Here’s a handy link from the Entomology Society of America:
Maybe one of the ones listed is closer to you or you can transfer after doing some courses through a local or community college.
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It usually does!
I had originally planned on an animal related career (either vet school or some type of animal science), but also ended up as a geneticist
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I’ve known a few herpetologists and entomologists through my dad (who is a geologist, so these were colleagues of his). They all worked for a university and did a combination of teaching and research. Granted, that’s also what my dad did (teaching & research), so maybe he just tended to hang out with scientists who were on similar career paths.
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Depends. The way my brain works, science falls generally under three umbrellas: Academia, Industry, Government.
All three of those pay for scientists to do “research”, it is just how you get the money (grants, profits, taxes)
I did not include Government in my reply because they generally do not care about reptiles in any capacity. Bugs interest them to some small degree, but that is mostly filed under “HOW TO KILL” which generally is more (bio)chemistry and less entomology. Industry, likewise, is more interested in the biochemistry and pharmacology aspects of both fields and, as such, they are less interested in the herpetologists and entomologists.
When you knock out those two umbrellas you are left with the Academic one, which is about the only arena where you can do research for research sake
And we like having you 
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“How to kill” makes me so mad >:(
I’m trying to figure out my second major, I’m already doing music performance with some scholarships waiting (assuming I do good on my very important solos… 
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My second major is between herpetology and entomology. Thank you for answering my questions! I think I may go the herpetology academia route.
That being said, I’d still love to know everyone’s herpetology and entomology jobs!
Also, an opinion question for the geneticists 
Is it possible to edit human DNA with CRISPR-Cas9 to resemble axolotl/salamander DNA so we can regrow limbs and organs? Even if it’s separate from a body? Is it ethical to do so?
I wrote a whole research proposal about its possibility, I’m trying to get either the SSAR, Texas Tech University, or University of Georgia at Athens to review it so I can look even better on college applications
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I mean, there are some legitimate reasons for it (malaria control, mass infestations, etc.,) but I generally agree with you that the rampant use of toxic chemicals is less than ideal. Sadly, it all comes down to money
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Honest opinion - Go for basic biology. It is a lot easier to get the broad degree and then look at specialization in the future than it is to go the opposite direction
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Is it possible? Maybe but I am thinking unlikely any time soon. We can certainly use CRISPR to edit the human genome. However, it is not just a neat one gene change we are looking at for that level of regeneration and (at least right now) we do not have a full enough understanding of all the in and outs that go into the process. Add to that the imprecise nature of the CRISPR engineering system and you are as likely to make something bad happen as good
As far as ethical… Also a bit of a knife edge to that question. IF we had all the knowledge we needed and IF there was transparency over the whole process then I do not see it as unethical. But then you get the wackos like the scientist that edited embryos and implanted them to “cure HIV” without any kind of oversight or regulation and it kind of makes the whole world cringe in fear
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Amen to that Travis…..
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