Dr.Todd Castoe

I was a junior in college in Syracuse, NY, in the midst of a cold snowy and dark winter in 1998. I had spent the weekend at the university library trying to figure out what I wanted to do for graduate school. I found a book, that was a collection of scientific papers from a symposium, called “The Biology of Pitvipers”, which was edited by Dr. Jonathan Campbell – a world renowned expert on snakes and a faculty at UTA. I was already interested in studying snakes, and chapter after chapter the book convinced me to work on snakes with Dr. Campbell as a graduate student. On New Years Day 2000 I drove to Arlington Texas to start a Master’s degree at UTA with Dr. Campbell and Dr. Chippindale. After graduating with a masters degree from UTA, I went on to complete a Ph.D. and postdoc elsewhere, not expecting to return. More than ten years later, I applied for a faculty position at UTA, and during my interview was impressed at how much UTA had grown, yet how much it felt pleasantly familiar, and proud of my time here as a graduate student. This book is the reason that I came to UTA nearly 20 years ago, and represents the reason I returned as a faculty member, and reminds me of the pride I have in being a part of the legacy of excellence established by faculty like Jonathan Campbell.