News release
Sternberg Museum of Natural History has announced the addition of a new zoology collections manager effective Aug. 30.
Dr. Jackson Roberts moved to Hays with his family from Baton Rouge, where he recently finished his PHD at Louisiana State University.
“We are excited for Jackson to join us because he fits into the culture and personalities we have at the museum,” said Sternberg Director Reese Barrick. “It’s not every day that you find somebody who’s excited that our museum has rattlesnakes. We look forward to welcoming him and his family to Hays.”
Barrick said Roberts will assume the position left vacant after the untimely death of Curtis Schmidt, who held the position from 2011-2022.
Roberts will oversee the care and management of Sternberg’s extensive and growing zoological collections, which include: Herpetology (16,000+ specimens), Mammalogy (45,000+ specimens plus 2 holotypes), Ichthyology (750,000 specimens), Ornithology (4,500 specimens), Mussels (5,000+) and Entomology (100,000+ insects). Collections consist of fluid-preserved specimens, skins, dry skeletons, histological, and frozen tissues. The collections focus on the Great Plains of the U.S.
“My family and I are beyond excited to join the Sternberg family,” Roberts said. “As Sternberg’s new zoology collections manager, I am incredibly lucky to continue the legacy for which the Sternberg’s live and research collections are known, as well as expand the volume and access to the collections to connect the community with the amazing biodiversity of the Great Plains.”
Roberts was born and raised in Nashville. His parents raised him alongside his sister and brother in a supportive home that always fostered his love for the outdoors. His time spent outdoors was usually focused on fishing or hunting with his family.
“Regardless of whether he was on the water or in the woods, I have always been interested in the animals around me and how to tell them apart,” Roberts said.
His undergraduate research with Dr. Michael Collins at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., involved surveying Southeastern birds for avian malaria. His master’s at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., with Dr. Ash Bullard focused on trematode parasites of freshwater turtles.
“After many different locations and a couple of degrees, I realized I was lucky (or cursed) to spend my career as a herpetologist,” he said.
During his PhD, Roberts focused on the systematics and taxonomy of New Guinean snakes, specifically two different groups: the New Guinea Worm-eating Snakes (Elapidae: Toxicocalamus) and the New Guinea Keelbacks (Natricidae: Tropidonophis).
At LSU, he contributed to the LSUMNS through outreach, research, and continued growth of the collection. He has contributed to domestic collecting, as well as a life-changing eight-week expedition in Papua New Guinea to the Ghost Mountain of Mt. Obree.
“But my greatest adventure I began as a PhD student was the family my wife Meg and I started in Baton Rouge: two wonderful and snake-loving boys, Emmett Darwin and Milo Wallace,” Roberts said