William joined the Herpetology Society at UCF and would engage in discussions, post pictures, and help identify species for people when they needed help. Through this RSO, he connected with Dr. Matthew Atkinson who invited him into his lab to join as a field technician. After his first semester in the lab, Dr. Atkinson allowed him to design a research project and handle permitting, grant applications, and much more. By networking, joining clubs, and working hard, William was able to start my research journey.

William’s project, “Shed Happens,” is a landscape-scale assessment examining how habitat type influences the prevalence and intensity of Snake Fungal Disease (SFD) infections across Central Florida. To date, we have sampled fifty snakes (n = 50) from fourteen distinct habitat types, ranging from wetlands to extremely dry (xeric) uplands. Preliminary analyses suggest that habitat type is approaching statistical significance as a predictor of SFD infection status, indicating that environmental factors may play a measurable role in disease dynamics.

William’s advice: “Be patient with yourself. Put yourself out there, talk to your professors and other faculty, and ask them which labs at UCF may be accepting people in. Also, I am an Officer in the Herpetology Society at UCF and I host monthly research hikes where I explain my journey, how I got into research, and what it all entails. If anyone would be interested in joining, feel free to join through Knight Connect!”