The Brief Story
Hello everyone! My name is Bob Literman and I'm a Ph.D. candidate here at Iowa State University. I'm going to be studying Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination (TSD) at ISU in the Valenzuela lab.
I was born in Buffalo, NY and always had an inherent interest in all things cold-blooded. During my undergraduate work, I became interested in TSD after a chance addition of Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularis, pictured) to my herpeological collection. After that, TSD went from hobby, to interest, to passion, eventually taking me all over the world.
My Trip So Far
Undergraduate Work (2003-2007): SUNY Geneseo, Rochester NY
La Suerte Biological Field Reserve (Summer 2006): La Suerte, Costa Rica
-Tropical Herpetology Course
Reserach Studentship (Fall-Winter 2007) : Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
-Studying TSD in the Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)
Tufts University (2008-2009) : Boston, MA
-Studying the differentiation capability of adult dental pulp stem cells
Iowa State University (2009 - ) : Ames, IA
-Studying the molecular machinery controlling the different mechanisms of temperature-dependent sex determination in reptilesI'll try and keep the site updated as things move forward. Thanks for checking in!
