My interest is primarily in colubrid snakes and introducing them to people that haven’t interacted with snakes or don’t know much about them. My first interaction with a snake was late in my life, in grad school in my late 30s. That one individual California kingsnake really opened my eyes. I’d like to begin doing outreach and education myself by keeping a corn snake at my workplace and do little interactive sessions there as a pilot program.

I’m a trained ornithologist and love the avian reptiles, but keeping them and merely handling non-domestic species is quite a bit more difficult than keeping a snake. So I’m excited to embark on this particular project, and would love to hear from anyone that has experience with keeping outreach snakes of any type. I also have a growing interest in the genetic basis (or at least the breedability) of behavioral traits like temperament/tameness and handleability in snakes. I’m always open to discussion and hearing folks’ thoughts, so don’t be shy if you read this and have something to say!