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I was born in Midland, Michigan and lived in Delaware, Arizona and Pennsylvania before settling down in Martinez, Georgia in 1989. I spent my childhood in the outdoors catching salamanders and turtles while becoming enamored with snakes. My love for the outdoors and teaching matured and gained some sense of direction during my participation in the Boy Scouts of America (Troop 615 of the Georgia-Carolina Council) and most notably from teaching ecology-themed merit badges at summer camps.
Entering the University of Georgia (UGA) as a biology undergrad, I soon became interested in Ecology and took a Herpetology class taught by Bob Reed and Cameron Young . This class was a turning point in my life as I realized that I could actually make a living working with reptiles and amphibians. My maturation into a scientist was greatly accelerated by Dr. Gary W. Barrett who instilled in me the value of professionalism, encouraged my love of photography and taught me much about research through our work on golden mice.
During my stint (if you can call 5 years a stint) as a biology and ecology double major, I was fortunate to work with Whit Gibbons and Betsie Rothermel during the summer of 2004 through the National Science Foundation's (NSF) research experience for undergraduates (REU) program. While at SREL, I worked on the LEAP project where my research with Betsie Rothermel resulted in my first publication (Rothermel and Luhring 2005).
After graduating in 2005 from UGA with a B.S. in both Ecology and Biology, I enrolled as a Master's student under the tutelage of Whit Gibbons . I spent my first two semesters taking classes and teaching an introductory biology lab for science majors before heading back to SREL to begin my research. Currently, I am beginning my research on the use of isolated wetlands by aquatic vertebrates and the population ecology of greater siren and two-toed amphiuma . I also frequently give talks to the public on our native reptiles and amphibians through our outreach program .
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