John P. Vanek

I’m a research assistant in

at Southern Illinois University, working towards my PhD in Zoology with a concentration in Wildlife Ecology and Management.

In the past, I’ve specialized in reptiles and amphibians, and to this extent I have worked on projects involving hellbenders, wood frogs, garter snakes,

, box turtles,

, tiger salamanders, and more. That said, I consider myself a generalist and am fascinated by ethology, entomology, ornithology, mammalogy, traditional wildlife management, and the human dimensions of wildlife.

I’m now studying meso-carnivores for my PhD, which you can learn more about

.