Alan Resetar
McCarter Collections Manager, Amphibians and Reptiles
Gantz Family Collections Center
Alan Resetar
McCarter Collections Manager
Amphibian and Reptile Collection
Alan manages the collections, staff, and volunteers in Amphibians and Reptiles. He provides research access to the specimen and tissue collections through loans, specimen digitization, facilitating collection visits, and other services.
Visit the collection website to learn more about the history of herpetology at Field Museum and the services provided to the scientific community.
When not at the museum, Alan spends his time surveying live amphibians and reptiles in nature. Alan's projects center around the herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles) of the Chicago area, particularly in the post-industrial landscape of the Calumet Region in northwest Indiana and southeastern Chicago. In cooperation with the National Park Service, U.S. EPA, Indiana Department of Natural Resources and The Nature Conservancy, he studies the distribution, ecology and conservation of this herpetofauna. In spite of large scale habitat disruption and destruction, there are still sizable remnants left of the patchwork of habitats that make the region unique. The herpetofauna is especially diverse because Calumet is the transition zone between two significant North American biomes - the eastern deciduous forest and the midwestern prairie. Alan’s work has documented range contractions and extensions and provided insight into the habitat use of various species, species richness of important habitats, annual activity cycles, conservation issues, and management of rare species. He is involved in conservation efforts at several levels - statewide (Indiana Non-game Amphibian and Reptile Technical Advisory Committee), regionally (Chicago Wilderness) and locally (various organizations).
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Additional Information
Education
Purdue University, B.S., Biology, 1978
University of Wisconsin, M.L.I.S., Library and Information Science, 1986
Interests
Distribution and ecology of midwestern amphibians and reptiles
Management of herpetological collections
Systematics of African snakes of the genus Polemon
Work experience
Field Museum: 35 years