Posted on 07/23/2007 3:56:58 AM PDT by deaconjim
Most people run from snakes. But some, like Chris O’Bryan, run to them.
"Sometimes there’s a snake in here," O’Bryan said, checking undergrowth at Steele Creek Park.
The snake had vacated, but the day was not a total loss – he bagged an elusive cave salamander moments later, which was enough for O’Bryan, who is not a snake hunter but a herpetologist, someone who studies reptiles. And he has plenty of curiosity for any he finds.
Poised and precociously articulate, O’Bryan, at 18, already has years of experience – including television exposure – in the naturalism field.
Herpetology is an obsession the Eagle Scout from Piney Flats has pursued since childhood.
Born in Boone, N.C., and raised in rural Shady Valley, Tenn., young O’Bryan was fascinated by the vibrant and complex ecosystems surrounding him.
"Seeing nature up-close really sparked my interest," he said.
O’Bryan spent hours studying wildlife, and his self-discipline earned him the admiration of prominent local naturalist Wallace Coffey, a member of the Bristol Bird Club.
"[Coffey] found me when I was doing field research on bog turtles," said O’Bryan, who at the time was volunteering with the Knoxville Zoo Tennessee Bog Turtle Program in addition to his independent study of the endangered species.
"[Chris] struck me as perfect in every way," Coffey said. "He was wearing khaki field research clothes, which blew me away. I told him no typical self-respecting teenager would be willing to dress that way. It showed me his commitment ... he’s very mature and doesn’t care what his peers think. He’s really smart, and I saw a lot of potential in him."
O’Bryan was about 13 at the time of their first meeting.
"[Coffey] saw my intense interest in natural history, and he saw I could make a career of it, so he took me under his wing," O’Bryan said.
Coffey spring-boarded O’Bryan into more nature projects and connected him with respected naturalists, like Dr. Tom Laughlin of ETSU.
"[Coffey] connected me with Steele Creek," O’Bryan said. At age 13, "I became the park’s first junior naturalist."
As junior park naturalist, O’Bryan volunteered 500 hours to research, cleaning reptile cages and using telemetry and Global Positioning Systems to track park wildlife.
Home-schooling gave him the flexibility to work year-round at the park while still serving as a research technician with the Tennessee Bog Turtle Program.
At Steele Creek, O’Bryan was especially intrigued by turtles’ basking habits, particularly those of the uncommon eastern spiny softshell turtle, a reclusive sharp-nosed reptile with a leathery shell.
He got a special permit from the Tennessee Wildlife Research Agency and began trapping and observing the creatures intensely.
"They are four times more sensitive to pollution than most turtles, and they are the only soft-shell turtle in the region. I found their unique nature interesting. Very little is known about them," O’Bryan said.
Shortly before his 15th birthday, ETSU granted money for his new turtle project, making him a summer Howard Hughes Research Scholarship student.
His research drew national attention in August 2004 when the Turner South Network television show "The Natural South" featured O’Bryan and his turtles in an episode.
"I was really nervous," O’Bryan said about filming. "But they cut out the parts where I was nervous. They showed me trapping turtles, and I took the crew out in a boat looking for them."
"[O’Bryan’s] commitment to the environment and all things living is unique," said Becky Wilkerson, president of the Friends of Steele Creek Nature Center and Park. "He was always willing to lead any tour, whether it was on birds, turtles – anything. He just liked to share his love of nature."
O’Bryan enjoys nature not only through research, but through sports like skiing, kayaking, and scuba diving.
Steele Creek Park put O’Bryan on the payroll when he was 16, adding more duties to his park research work.
But he found himself increasingly drawn to tropical herpetology after exploring the Amazonian jungle in December 2005 on a Smithsonian Family trip to Peru.
"By day, we looked for birds and other animals. At night, we went out in a river boat looking for caimans [Amazon crocodilians], snakes and sloths," said O’Bryan, who was inspired by the trip despite being literally covered with mosquitoes.
This summer, O’Bryan left Steele Creek to work as an undergraduate research assistant for the Field Biology Department at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn.
"Austin Peay is the flagship for herpetology in the state," he said.
After earning his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from APSU, O’Bryan intends to get his masters in biology, followed by a doctorate in tropical herpetology.
"He has what it takes to get his PhD," Coffey said. "I think he will be successful at that as he is at whatever he does."
"I’d like to work for a natural history museum, possibly doing research in South America and southern Africa," O’Bryan said.
"He is one of those bright stars who’ll really contribute to the field," Wilkerson said. "We’ll be hearing about him in the future."
O’Bryan hopes observing the tropical world will help save it.
"The rainforest is going fast, but the more research you do, the more chance it has of being protected," he said.
Homeschool ping
Does he speak parseltongue?
He’ll be dead from snake bite before he’s thirty.
Thanks for posting this, deaconjim. It’s a nice article that highlights one of the benefits of homeschooling.
Aren’t you ever the ray of sunshine?
If I weren’t just an online faceless entity, I’d lay odds that he’ll outlive you.
Many folks are FAR more qualified at dealing with and controlling snakes than folks like you who know ONLY fear.
BTW, the critters in the article aren’t even poisonous. He MAY study some more dangerous reptiles later in his career, but your TERROR at the thought of SNAKES is absolutely ludicrous! Only the ignorant fear the unknown. Silly person.
Come to think of it, this rather echoes your fear and virulent HATE regarding pit bulls, too.
How someone can live in such fear of the world is beyond me.
Even my hamster pities you.
We get them every week on the local news.
Everything from teen movie makers to teen astrophysicists.
Who knows, this guy may find a cure for cancer in some obscure rain forest viper's venom.
Don't disparage it just because YOU don't think it's of any worth.
Let’s see.
Hate pit bulls. Check.
Own a dog. Check.
Afraid of snakes. Check.
Well, you’ve nailed me, mate. And yes, since the snake-handler who’ll die by thirty is 45 years younger than me, there’s a good chance he’ll outlive me. We are impressed.
how many engineers, scientists, and technologists do we need to stay ahead? every single one we can get... meanwhile, movies, tv and radio call these same kids nerds or geeks, attempting to dissuade them from perusing the field.
that's my point. stop with the fanning of hobbies that won't help ... and also stop the degradation of those we need.
and for the record, handling reptiles for a living is fairly pointless except for maybe the 1,000 or so people in the US that do it for venom research/antidotes/etc. (can't we outsource THIS CRAP instead??)
Where do you think they get the venom for the research?
Normally a herpatologist is the person that actually gets the venom from the snake.
Do we need more snake charmers? Probably not.
Do we need more movie directors? I sure would like to see some conservative patriotic ones in the mix, so maybe we do.
Do we need more scientists, engineers, etc. Most assuredly, but not EVERYONE is gifted in that respect.
As for calling them geeks, nerds, etc, I WAS one of those that got called those names. Didn't matter to me.
I was raised to believe in myself.
If you have the talent and brains, it shouldn't put you off just because someone else doesn't realize what you're worth.
Personally, I’d rather read an article about a kid who is learning to do what he loves, and what makes him happy. This business about learning to do a job based on someone else’s idea of what society needs sounds a lot like something Hillary would be in favor of.
we'll import the rest. brilliant
the 'do what you feel like doing' mindset is straight out of the 60s hippie generation. and American sure as hell doesn't need anymore of those idiots
BTW, correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't a herpetologist be considered a 'scientist'?
look to the media... watch what they promote/market/endorse... they are 'bashing' engineers/scientists/technologists but show a puff piece about a kid playing with snakes, celebrating it.
my point, as stated before, is to stop bashing the fields we need (which might be the liberals point ... anything that hurts America) and celebrate them alongside the lizard boy.
do we need the lizard boy? sure... but we don't need millions of them. the fields that get bashed by the media are needed for defense and help make the country strong (which may be the reason they are bashed by the media)
and if you didn't know, when the media puts out puff pieces, it is marketing that item. in this case, they would be marketing in an effort to produce more herpetologists (to be kind... otherwise they are just creepy kids collecting snakes & bugs)... where is the same puff piece endorsing technology/science/engineering ?
Lighten up. Most people don’t use media puff pieces to choose their careers, and the ones that do probably shouldn’t be in scientific or engineering fields anyway.
If that were the casee, i'd be a gyencologist, not an engineer. Glad I am an engineer, the diesel smell on the jobsite is much more pleasant.
It sounds like the Boy Scout Merit Badge program did just what it’s intended to do. Spark the fire of an individuals passion and interest leading to a career of choice.
Good for him.
SZ
Apparently, you are doing a job you love, rather than the job you thought you would love.
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