UP
F R O N T
Unexpected moments in science
A research student tracks a rare snake through the perils of the Pine Barrens. And the professor who sent him?
He faced a far more painful fate.
Year of the snake
Famously known for studying snakes, professor Howard Reinert (see sidebar) sent me, his research student, to the New Jersey Pinelands
to study the elusive Eastern Kingsnake. After relentlessly tracking one through a sphagnum bog, I developed a bad rash on my legs.
Another time, during a torrential rainstorm, I had to jump across some rushing water. I thought my landing area was solid ground, but it
turned out to be a hole with leaves and pine needles floating on top. I was suddenly thigh-deep in water. I crawled out of the hole and drove
back to campus soaking wet and muddy. —MATTHEW WUND '99, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY
