Brandon Kong
Graduate Student
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Education
B.S. UC Santa Cruz
Research Interests
My childhood obsession with reptiles and amphibians has guided me to graduate-level work in the PERL. While earning my Ecology and Evolution degree at UC Santa Cruz, I conducted a study that assessed the genetic diversity of the Santa Cruz Black Salamander. At the same time, I was working with California Tiger Salamanders and California Red-legged Frogs as a field tech for the Stanford Conservation Program. At Cal Poly, I am planning to shift my focus to rattlesnakes and their interactions with water. In particular, I am interested in finding and characterizing microstructures in the scales on the heads of rattlesnakes that might allow them to channel rainwater into their mouths. This may be an unexplored aspect of snake survival in arid environments. When I’m not working on my projects I’m usually with my family, herping, reading, or playing guitar.
