Steve's Herpetological Blog

An insight into the life of Steve, his research and the many books he reads

Natural History

#StevesLibrary: Venomous

It is no surprise that I am partial to venomous animals, especially when they come in the form of snakes, lizards, and frogs. Therefore the book I’ve just finished was the perfect read, given my interests. In general, Venomous by…

#SciFri: DICE Annual Lecture 2023

I’m lucky that at the University of Kent, we have the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), where I have spent the past four and a half years working on my PhD. I will be sad in a month…

#StevesLibrary: Tamed

You may remember that I’ve recently read Sapiens and Guns, Germs and Steel over the past couple of years. Both of these books delve into the dawn of civilisation, and what motivated people to come together and start farming, therefore…

#StevesLibrary: Bee Quest

After finishing to read His Imperial Majesty recently, I thought I’d keep with the entomological theme and read Bee Quest. Insects are one of those groups of animals that fascinate me deeply, but were just beaten by amphibians and reptiles….

#SteveReviews: Prehistoric Planet

It was going to come sooner or later, wasn’t it? I’m sorry it took me so long to getting around to write this, but with my PhD thesis deadline looming, I’ve had bigger fish to fry! For those of you…

#StevesLibrary: His Imperial Majesty

You may remember a short while ago when I reviewed The Butterfly Isles by Patrick Barkham, it was during this book that I first me the eccentric character that is Matthew Oates. In Barkham’s book, Oates helps him to see…

#SciFri: Visiting the Maidstone Museum

It’s always great when you’re out and about, and you stumble across an amazing local museum. That’s what happened recently when visiting Maidstone recently. I hadn’t really been before, and wanted to have it crossed off of my list, while…

#StevesLibrary: Winged Obsession

There aren’t many books out there on the illegal wildlife trade, which is a shame as it is an interesting and often overlooked area of conservation. Some of you may remember back to last summer when I read Stolen Worlds,…

#StevesLibrary: Silent Spring

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, especially being a conservationist. Thankfully, I finally have and I’m glad I did. Despite the fact that Silent Spring was published 60 years ago,…

#StevesLibrary: The Soul of an Octopus

It isn’t often that you read a book that makes you revaluate the relationship between humans and animals, as much as The Soul of an Octopus did. I’m not going to lie, for a while I had a fear of…