Christopher J. Raxworthy,

 Curator-in-Charge and Associate Curator, Department of Herpetology, Division of Vertebrate Zoology and Curator, Frogs: A Chorus of Colors

Christopher J. Raxworthy's research focuses on Old World reptile and amphibian systematics and biogeography, especially the study of family relationships among species of chameleons. His work has provided new information on the historical process of reptile species formation in Madagascar and has helped policymakers set priorities for conservation planning. When he began his research there 19 years ago as a leader of a student exhibition, only about 370 species of Malagasy reptiles and amphibians had been identified. Since then Dr. Raxworthy in collaboration with others has found (and is now describing) more than 150 new species and has added a wealth of information to the published literature on known species. The chameleon systematics project includes field surveys in remote, mountainous areas of northern Madagascar, many of which have never been previously explored or surveyed. Dr. Raxworthy also has conducted fieldwork in Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Seychelles, Turkey, and Vietnam. Research based on Asian and African fieldwork is helping him search for historical links between frogs and reptiles from before Madagascar and India carried away their own parts of the Gondwanan supercontinent. His broader research interests include the applications of geographic information systems (GIS) for identifying the geographic distribution of reptile species, findings that are useful to setting conservation priorities. Dr. Raxworthy received a B.S. in zoology from the Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London, England, in 1985 and a Ph.D. in biology from the Open University, Milton Keynes, England, in 1989. He joined the Museum as an Associate Curator in 2000. He is an adjunct research scientist at Columbia University, an adjunct research investigator at the University of Michigan, and an external lecturer at the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar.

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Darrel R. Frost, Associate Dean of Science for Collections and Curator, Department of Herpetology, Division of Vertebrate Zoology

As Associate Dean of Science for Collections, Darrel R. Frost is responsible for overseeing the use and maintenance of the American Museum of Natural History's permanent collection of more than 30 million specimens and cultural artifacts. Dr. Frost also oversees the Office of the Conservator of Natural Science Collections, which supports in-house training for collection maintenance and collection conservation expertise for all in-house construction projects. He also oversees the Museum's Interdepartmental Laboratory, which includes a state-of-the-art imaging facility that provides analytical microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, science visualization, and image analysis in support of the Museum's scientific activities. As a curator in the Division of Vertebrate Zoology, Dr. Frost studies the evolutionary origin and diversification of reptiles and amphibians, and examines issues related to the grounds of knowledge in evolutionary biology. Dr. Frost also studies the notion of species in systematic biology and evaluates ways to effectively combine molecular and morphological data. He maintains a comprehensive online taxonomic catalog of the world's living amphibians. Dr. Frost started to develop this project in 1980 and continuously updates this online reference to make it eminently useful to professional herpetologists. He has formulated a revised classification for the entire group of New World lizards called Iguania, comprising about 1,000 species in the Americas, Madagascar, Fiji, and Tonga. Dr. Frost received a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona in 1972, an M.S. in Zoology from Louisiana State University in 1978, and a Ph.D. in Systematics and Ecology from the University of Kansas in 1988. He joined the American Museum of Natural History in 1990 as an Assistant Curator. He is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and an Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York.

Julián Faivovich, Graduate Student, Department of Herpetology
 Julián Faivovich studies the evolutionary relationships of a large group of neotropical tree frogs, using genetic, morphological, and life history data. The diversity of this group makes it a model system for the study of vocalizations, life history, and biogeography of frogs in tropical and subtropical America. Mr. Faivovich has conducted fieldwork in Argentina and Paraguay, published 18 scientific papers, received significant dissertation research support from the National Science Foundation, and served as a reviewer for several journals. He received his B.S. college degree in biology from the Universidad de Buenos Aires in 1999, his M.Phil. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2002, and is working toward his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Columbia University, conducting research at the Museum under the guidance of Dr. Darrel Frost, Associate Dean of Science for Collections, and Curator, Division of Vertebrate Zoology.

Taran Grant, Graduate Student, Department of Herpetology
 Taran Grant studies the evolutionary relationships among amphibians, primarily dart poison frogs, with a focus on how their diversification relates to the evolution of their toxicity, behavior, genetics, and morphology. He has conducted extensive fieldwork on the diverse amphibian fauna of the western Andes of Colombia, resulting in the discovery of numerous previously unknown species of frogs. Recent work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force, among others. To date, he has published approximately 20 scientific articles documenting his findings. He worked as an animal keeper at the Vancouver Aquarium in British Columbia, Canada and as a curatorial assistant at the Universidad del Valle's Natural History Museum, Colombia. Mr. Grant received his B.S. in biology from the Universidad del Valle in Colombia in 1998, his M.Phil. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2002, and is completing his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Columbia University, conducting research at the Museum under the guidance of Dr. Darrel Frost, Associate Dean of Science for Collections, and Curator, Division of Vertebrate Zoology.

Raoul Bain, Biodiversity Specialist, Herpetology, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation
 Raoul Bain carries out herpetological field expeditions to research sites selected by the Museum's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) where he surveys biodiversity, makes conservation recommendations, and trains local scientists in conservation techniques. Mr. Bain has participated in expeditions to Vietnam and Bolivia, where he joined other CBC and Museum staff in the professional development of local scientists and in the collection of herpetological data. An expert in amphibians and reptiles of southeast Asia, he has been active in fieldwork in the region for 10 years. Mr. Bain's work has led to the discovery of seven species of amphibians from Vietnam in the past year alone. Mr. Bain also serves on the southeast Asian review committee of the Global Amphibian Assessment, an international conservation project that is documenting the conservation status of amphibians for the first time. Before joining the Museum, Mr. Bain worked as an environmental and research consultant in the United States and Canada, conducted a study of amphibians as a field biologist in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and collected Mesozoic marine reptiles in northern British Columbia for the Royal Ontario Museum. He received his B.Sc. in human biology from the University of Toronto in 1993 and his M.Sc. in zoology from the University of Toronto in 1998.