Living a Childhood Dream: Q&A with Dr. Christopher Austin
December 06, 2022
Christopher Austin, Director and Curator of Herpetology at the LSU Museum of Natural Science.
– Christopher Austin
As Director of the LSU Museum of Natural Science and Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles, Dr. Christopher Austin is living a childhood dream of being able to learn something new about the natural world every day. Located in Foster Hall on LSU’s flagship campus, the museum houses one of the largest university-based collection of birds in the world and the largest collection of genetic resources (DNA samples) in the world, attracting graduate students from all over the globe to conduct research with its premier research staff.
After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of California at Davis, Dr. Austin went on to earn his PhD at the University of Texas at Austin, where he first heard about an island with mysterious lizards with green blood. He soon realized the island of New Guinea would be a great place to make his mark on the field of herpetology, as no one had researched these lizard (and the many other reptiles and amphibians on the island) in-depth. Since his field expeditions began in New Guinea in 1990, he has described 37 new species and has a backlog of more than 30 species that he discovered but has not yet had time to describe.
Get to know more about our Fall 2022 commencement speaker below.
CoS: What got you interested in science and your research area?
Dr. Austin: My contention is that everyone is born a herpetologist- someone who studies reptiles and amphibians. Newborn babies are not afraid of snakes, young kids love catching frogs, and who is not fascinated by tadpoles growing legs and metamorphizing into small froglets. I just never grew out of my love of amphibians and reptiles.
Paedophryne amauensis, aka the microfrog.
– Christopher Austin
CoS: What do you consider your biggest scientific achievement thus far?
Dr. Austin: Well, I hope my biggest scientific achievement is still to come! One of my most fun scientific achievements was describing a new species of tiny frog from Papua New Guinea that holds the Guinness World Record of the world’s smallest vertebrate. Discovering and describing new species of life on earth is a passion of mine.
CoS: What drives you each day?
Dr. Austin: My goal each day is to find out something new about the natural world. Being a biologist helps with this goal, as this is fundamentally my job.
CoS: What professor had the most influence on you and why?
Dr. Austin: My undergraduate mentor Professor Brad Shaffer at the University of California at Davis. Brad gave me a wonderful opportunity to do an exciting honors thesis involving field and laboratory work on salamanders that led to two peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Chris Austin and former PhD student, Cathy Newman.
– Christopher Austin
CoS: What’s the significance behind wearing your cowboy hat at graduation?
Dr. Austin: I received my PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and proud of it. Hook’em Horns! I’m just glad they are not in the SEC.
CoS: What would be your life’s theme song?
Dr. Austin: Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. I loved that song long before coming to LSU, a great get the blood pumping song! If you have not seen the original video, it is classically comical today.
CoS: What advice would you give to your younger self, as a new graduate?
Dr. Austin: Never stop experimenting with trying to be a better scientist. Writing is key to success in science, that is how scientists largely communicate advances in knowledge- write every day for an hour. If you miss a day, write for two hours the next day.
Learn more about Dr. Austin and his research on his faculty page.