Curriculum Vitae

Neil Bowman Ford Telephone: office (903) 566-7249
Department of Biology home (903) 566-4012
The University of Texas at Tyler e-mail: nford@mail.uttyler.edu

EDUCATION

B. S. University of Kansas (Systematics and Ecology), 1973
M. S. University of Oklahoma (Zoology), 1976
Ph. D. Miami University, Oxford, Ohio (Zoology), 1979

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1979-84 Assistant Professor of Biology, Univ. of Texas at Tyler
1984-1991 Associate Professor of Biology, Univ. of Texas at Tyler
1991-present Professor of Biology, Univ. of Texas at Tyler
1985-1997 Faculty Research Participant, Savannah River Ecology Lab, U. S. Dept. of Energy
1988-2000 Adjunct Professor, Southeastern Louisiana University
1989-present Director of the Ophidian Research Colony, U. T. Tyler
2000-2003 Mary John and Ralph Spence Distinguished Professor

RESEARCH EXPERTISE

1985- Phenotypic plasticity in life-history traits of snakes

1979- Snake behavior
The role of pheromones in snake sociobiology
Context-related activity and behavior of snakes

1989- Established the Univ. Texas at Tyler Ophidian Colony
(self-sustaining research colony, approx. $12,000/year)
Animals are supplied to other researchers

1984 - Issues of conservation of snakes and east Texas habitats
Advisor to Flora and Fauna Int. on endangered Antiguan Racer
Manager of Sheff’s Wood (Nature Conservancy preserve)
Population study of water dogs at Camp Tyler
Manager of Devil’s Walking Stick, NAPA Wildlife Preserve
Surveys and research as the Texas Parks and Wildlife
at the Old Sabine Wildlife Management Area
Vertebrate surveys for the Texas Army National Guard

SUMMARY OF PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

I have given over 50 presentations at scientific meetings and have written 42 scientific papers, 8 book chapters and one book on my research. I have been invited to present 20 talks at Universities and scientific meetings. I have presented 16 symposium talks and have organized 6 national and international symposia in my field of research.

HONORS

1987 Joseph Laslo Award for Excellence in Research (S.A.H.S.)
1996 Elected Fellow of the Texas Academy of Science
2000 Mary John and Ralph Spence Distinguished Professor (U. T. Tyler)

PUBLICATIONS IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS

Ball, R. and N. B. Ford. 1999. Courtship and mating behavior in the diadem snake, Sphaerosophis diadema cliffordi (Colubridae). African J. Herpet. 48:27-31.

Seigel, R. A. , N. B. Ford and L. A. Mahrt. 2000. Ecology of an aquatic snake (Thamophis marcianus) in a desert environment: Implications of early timing of birth and geographic variation in reproduction. Amer. Midl. Nat. 143:453-462.

Stone, A.; N. B. Ford and D. A. Holtzman. 2000. Spatial learning and shelter selection by juvenile spotted pythons, Anteresia maculosus. J. Herpetol. 34: 575-587.

Seigel, R. A. and N. B. Ford. 2001. Phenotypic plasticity in reproductive traits: Geographic variation in plasticity in a viviparous snake. J. Func. Ecol. 15: 36-42.

Ford, N. B. Reproduction in the brown house snake, Lamprophis fuliginosus, from Tanzania. 2001. Afr. J. Herp. 50:31-34.

R. Mehta and N. B. Ford. 2001. Courtship in the Madagascar Cat-eyed snake Madagascarophis colubrina (Boiginae). Afr. J. Herp. 50:115-120.

D. Lutterschmidt, W. I. Lutterschmidt, N. B. Ford and V. H. Hutchison, 2002. Behavioral thermoregulation and the role of melatonin in a nocturnal snake. Horm. and Behav. 41:41-50.

N, B. Ford and D. F. Ford, 2002. Notes on the Ecology of the South American water snake, Helicops angulatus, (Squamata: colubridae) in Nariva Swamp, Trinidad. Caribbean J. Sci. 38:129-132.

Debra L. Lancaster and Neil B. Ford. 2003. Reproduction in western ribbon snakes, Thamnophis proximus, (Serpentes: colubridae), from an East Texas bottomland. Texas J. Science 55:25-32.

William Hopkins; Brandon P. Staub; Jennifer A. Baionno; Brian P. Jackson; John H. Roe; and Neil B. Ford. 2003. Trophic and Maternal Transfer of Selenium in Brown House Snakes (Lamprophis fuliginosus) Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

Ryan O'donnell, Neil Ford, Richard Shine and Robert Mason. 2004. Male red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) determine female mating status from pheromone trails. Animal Behavior

N. B. Ford, F. Brischous and D. L. Lancaster. 2004. Reproduction of the western cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus in a forested floodplain. Southwestern Naturalist.

MANUSCRIPTS SUBMITTED

N. B. Ford, D. L. Lancaster, L. D. LeBeau and S. D. Lange. Snakes of Texas Bottomland hardwood forests: The Old Sabine Bottom Wildlife Management Area. J. Wildlife Management.

Rita Mehta and Neil B. Ford. Prey handling behavior in Helicops angulatus with a description of constriction of fish. Journal of Herpetology.

Rita Mehta and Neil B. Ford. Prey chemical preference in the water snake, Helicops angulatus, from Nariva Swamp, Trinidad. Copeia.

BOOK CHAPTERS IN LAST FIVE YEARS

Ford, N. B. 2002. Ecology of the western cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma, in northeastern Texas. Vipers of the World. Pp. 167-177. Eagle Mountain Press

BOOKS

Rossman, D., Ford, N. and R. Seigel. 1996. The Garter Snakes of North America: Their Evolution and Ecology. Univ. Oklahoma Press. 332 p.