Quick Facts
Biography
Gordon W. Schuett, Ph.D. (born March 5, 1957) is an American evolutionary biologist and herpetologist who has conducted extensive research on reptiles. His work has focused primarily on snakes, but he has also published on turtles, lizards and amphibians. His most significant contributions have been to the studies of hormonal control of reproduction and behavior, winner-loser effects, long-term sperm storage, mate competition, and parthenogenesis.
Biography
Graduate research
Schuett received a master's degree in biology from Central Michigan University in 1986, under the academic guidance of James C. Gillingham. His 88-page thesis was titled "Selected Topics on Reproduction in the Copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix (Serpentes, Viperidae)". Schuett then attended The University of Wyoming where he earned his Ph.D. in 1994 under the guidance of David Duvall and James D. Rose. His dissertation, titled "Determinants of Fighting Success in Male Copperheads (Serpentes, Viperidae)," was a major contribution to the field of animal behavior and has since been featured in text books
Postdoctoral research
After finishing his Ph.D., Schuett took a 1-year postdoctoral position under William Murdoch (University of Wyoming) studying hormone levels in both male and female copperheads during reproduction and male-male agonistic bouts. In 1993, he earned a 2-year postdoctoral position at Arizona State University. While there he successfully applied for an assistant professorship. Schuett has subsequently held positions at Georgia State University and Zoo Atlanta. Since 2003, Schuett has been an adjunct professor of biology at Georgia State University.
Publications
Schuett has published 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, 15 peer reviewed book chapters, and several popular magazine articles. He coauthored a zoology laboratory manual and served as chief editor for a peer reviewed scholarly volume, Biology of the Vipers, which has been made available online. He presently serves as chief editor of a peer reviewed volume in progress, The Rattlesnakes of Arizona. Schuett was the founding editor of the journal Herpetological Natural History.