This week, we hear from George Lynn Cross Research Professor and Curator Emeritus, Dr. Laurie J. Vitt:

I was Curator of Reptiles at the Sam Noble Museum and Professor in the OU Biology Department for 21 years, following eight years as Professor of Biology at UCLA. I am currently Curator and Professor Emeritus after retiring in 2011. Much of my more recent research has focused on biodiversity and ecology of tropical herpetofaunas. Along with collaborators from the United States and Brazil, I have also been involved in research examining global patterns of resource use and life histories of lizards. As a professor in the Biology Department, I trained graduate students at the Master’s and Ph. D. level as well as participating in undergraduate teaching. I am an elected corresponding member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

I was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Sciences and Technologies, Western Washington University in 2007 and a Distinguished Herpetologist Award by the Herpetologists’ League at the World Congress of Herpetology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 2012. I am co-author of the textbook, Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles, Fourth Edition, with Dr. Janalee Caldwell. I remain actively involved in research, working with collaborators in several Latin American countries, especially Brazil, as well as collaborators in the United States.

Check out Laurie’s website.

Tune in next week for an update on Dr. Janalee P. Caldwell, Professor and Curator Emeritus