PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

I am a Herpetologist, Parasitologist, and Museum Scientist. I am ALWAYS looking for passionate potential graduate students and undergraduate workers from FHSU. If interested in joining the lab, please reach out via email!

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE AND COLLABORATOR

Travis W. Taggart grew up in Humboldt, KS, where he graduated from high school. He received a BS from Fort Hays State University and earned an MS at Southeastern Louisiana University, with Dr. Brian Crother. He co-founded Contemporary Herpetology, the first online peer-reviewed herpetological journal, in 1996 and saw its transition to the Journal of North American Herpetology. He has designed, built, and operated the online Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas since 1999. His main research interests are in evolutionary biology, herpetology, bioinformatics, and the philosophy of science, upon which he has over 170 publications, including books.

GRADUATE STUDENT

I graduated from U. Nebraska - Kearney in Spring 2025. My thesis will focus on the Map Turtles of Kansas, specifically the cryptic and ambiguous False Map Turtle complex. I will be using morphology and genetics to improve our ability to identify these turtles.

GRADUATE STUDENT (GEOSCIENCES)

JRR COMMITTEE MEMBER

I have always been interested in caring for specimens at natural history museums and initially began working in paleontology. Later, I sought to expand my knowledge by exploring zoology collections, with herpetology wet collections becoming my primary area of interest.

ALUMNA!

JRR COMMITTEE MEMBER

My thesis research is on the morphological community structure of Kansas bats. In my time at the Sternberg Museum, I have worked with vertebrates in the zoology collection, focusing on the preparation, cataloging, and organization of specimens. My post-graduation plans involve further pursuing a career in natural history collections management.

UNDERGRADUATE WORKER

I am primarily interested in the Coleoptera of the Great Plains, but no macroscopic biological organism in the Great Plains is truly safe from my interest. I am planning to finish my bachelor's degree and get a masters degree in biology and a PhD. in entomology and get a job in a museum as either a collections manager or an entomology curator.

UNDERGRADUATE WORKER

I’ve always liked working with animals dead or alive so the collections was a great area for me to learn about this kind of field. I started with a main interest in mammalogy but have shifted to ornithology as my main focus.

UNDERGRADUATE WORKER

Ever since I was little, I have loved being outdoors. I have grown up hunting and fishing with my Dad and siblings which led me to want to be a Game Warden. I am currently a Sophomore at FHSU studying Natural Resources and when I graduate I would like to become a Game Warden or a Park Ranger in the National Parks. 

UNDERGRADUATE WORKER

I am very artistic and enjoy creating crocheted goods and sewing quilts. One of my favorite activities to do is learn! I aspire to earn a Doctorate in Biology and potentially educate in the later future.

UNDERGRADUATE WORKER

I enjoy studying the order Unionida due to the weird functions of mussels. I also enjoy surveying for mussels and being able to identify them.