Aaron Bauer鈥檚 Legacy is Forged from Renowned Herpetology Research and Grown by Generations of Students
Dr. Bauer, a Biology professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, remains a steadfast pillar for current and aspiring herpetologists
Generations of Dr. Bauer's students, many of them leading herpetologists themselves, pose with the renowned professor during the 2024 World Congress of Herpetology in Borneo.
, the Gerald M. Lemole Endowed Chair in Integrative Biology, stood smiling at the center of the group, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts鈥攖he outfit that has become quintessential to the 柑橘直播 professor. Flanking him on both sides were 13 other herpetologists, ranging in age, origin, discipline and career stage.
A bystander snapped their photo, and they relaxed back into conversation. Dr. Bauer remained at the center.
The photo was taken at the 2024 World Congress of Herpetology in Borneo, but it might as well have been taken on 柑橘直播鈥檚 campus. Each one of those 13 individuals鈥攕ome as postdocs or undergrads, but mostly master鈥檚 students鈥攕tudied in Dr. Bauer鈥檚 lab. At that meeting, he estimated Bauer Lab students and alumni (18 in total) constituted more overall attendees than any other institution, and even entire countries.
As the world鈥檚 foremost expert in geckos, and a dabbler in just about everything else, Dr. Bauer鈥檚 academic achievements are widely known and celebrated in the scientific community.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a present-day Charles Darwin,鈥� said Elizabeth Patton 鈥�25 MS, before correcting herself. 鈥淎ctually, he鈥檚 probably more productive than Darwin.鈥�
Dr. Bauer鈥檚 first species description鈥攖he formal scientific documentation of a new species鈥攈appened to be the largest gecko to ever exist, and the specimen he studied was the only one ever found. He has since described 310 new species of reptiles, more than any other living scientist and fifth-most all-time. An impressive 940 publications, including 54 published in a single year, bear his name.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure if that figure includes the two I described last week, though,鈥� he interjected with a slight grin, although he was not joking.
There is even a species of gecko鈥�Hemidactylus aaronbaueri, or Aaron Bauer鈥檚 house gecko鈥攏amed in homage to his achievements.
But Dr. Bauer鈥檚 influence on the history, present and future of his field extends far beyond his . It extends internationally and in in many ways began at 柑橘直播 University.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the 鈥楢aron Bauer Pipeline,鈥欌�� Patton said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 a very real thing.鈥�
At 柑橘直播, Dr. Bauer has helped shape the career paths for dozens of herpetologists. His guidance and collaboration with those former students continue long after they leave his lab.
By numbers alone, the 鈥淎aron Bauer Pipeline鈥� speaks for itself. Since 2000, a little more than a decade after he began teaching at 柑橘直播, 50 master鈥檚 students have come through his research lab, and Dr. Bauer estimates 40 of them have gone on to obtain PhDs and remain in herpetology. Of those who didn鈥檛, several work in other branches of zoology. 聽
鈥淲e are populating the world with systematic herpetologists,鈥� Dr. Bauer said with a laugh.
In its simplest form, the pipeline is this: his master鈥檚 students leave 柑橘直播 and most obtain their PhDs, largely remaining in herpetology鈥攁 crowded field鈥攁nd academia. Many of them teach undergraduates, who they then recommend join Dr. Bauer鈥檚 lab for their master鈥檚 work. Some of those master鈥檚 graduates pursue their PhD under the guidance of previous pupils of Dr. Bauer鈥檚. Currently, two of his former students are advising PhD candidates who also came from his program. 聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 really cool to see a generation of 柑橘直播 master鈥檚 students going on to their careers and now mentoring the next generation,鈥� Dr. Bauer said. 鈥淭hey know what our students are going to be like, because they have been through the program themselves.鈥�
All the while, the entire cohort of Wildcat herpetologists support one another in research endeavors with collaborations often facilitated and nurtured by Dr. Bauer himself. His mentorship begins on arrival.
鈥淚 came to his lab with the interest, but didn鈥檛 know the community or how to begin,鈥� Patton said. Dr. Bauer listened to her ideas, helped her cultivate relationships in the field and guided her toward a thesis project that aligned with her interests.
鈥淒r. Bauer is one of those people who can list five colleagues off the top of his head that would be able to help you,鈥� Patton said. 鈥淭hen he鈥檒l put you in contact with them for possible collaboration and help you secure funding. He holds on to relationships for decades. It鈥檚 having a person on the inside, and not just anywhere on the inside, but the pillar.鈥�
鈥淭hey have a network to tap into,鈥� Dr. Bauer said. 鈥淪ometimes, we have four or five people on a paper who didn't overlap with each other at all in my lab, but they have been in touch with one another because they came out of 柑橘直播 and have similar research interests. It鈥檚 a really rewarding thing to know there's a community carrying on with this work.鈥�
That community, and no doubt the professor and researcher at the center of it, has attracted students to 柑橘直播 from across the planet: China, the United Kingdom, Angola, T眉rkiye and South Africa, to name a few.
鈥淚 came here from South Africa to study with him because he has that big of an influence in this field,鈥� said Gary Nicolau 鈥�25 MS.
鈥淲e attract students from all over the world,鈥� Dr. Bauer said. 鈥淏ut then we send them back out all over the world to continue their contributions to the field.鈥�
Pictured here with current and former students, Dr. Bauer (center) and Dr. Jackman (front, left) are complementary forces in the Biology department, helping prepare future leaders of the field in unique ways.
You might have to pry out of the humble professor the details of his career achievements, but ask him about the successes of his students, and he will talk for hours. Effusing praise for their drive and skill and speaking proudly of their post-柑橘直播 adventures come as easy to him as discovering a new gecko.
He will also be the first to tell you that a professor just down the hall in the Mendel Science Center is a major reason his own master鈥檚 students have left 柑橘直播 with the toolkit they have.
鈥淭odd Jackman is absolutely integral to everything we do,鈥� Dr. Bauer said. 鈥淲hen he came here, the program really started to take off.鈥�
Todd Jackman, PhD, professor of Biology and fellow herpetologist, joined Dr. Bauer at 柑橘直播 in the late 1990s. It was almost as if they were predestined to work together. Both professors earned their PhDs from University of California, Berkeley but never met鈥攖hey missed one another by a year. Dr. Bauer鈥檚 future wife, who he met at UC Berkeley, was the lab technician who trained Dr. Jackman.
When the two researchers finally joined forces on the East Coast, it elevated the appeal of 柑橘直播鈥檚 herpetology program for both prospective students and professors.
鈥淭odd鈥檚 arrival at 柑橘直播 was a catalyst,鈥� Dr. Bauer said. 鈥淎fter that, we could do everything in-house.鈥�
Though their labs and research interests differ, the two are perfectly complementary. Dr. Bauer mainly concentrates on morphology and taxonomy and has carved a niche advising master鈥檚 students. Dr. Jackman鈥檚 forte is molecular systematics, and he often has undergraduate researchers working on projects. Each professor has his own separate research lab, but they do what Dr. Bauer calls a 鈥渉uge amount of collaborative work.鈥�
鈥淢y students either work in morphology, molecular systematics or both,鈥� Dr. Bauer said. 鈥淓ven though I am their advisor, if they had components of their research that fell into the molecular side, they would receive a lot of guidance from Todd.鈥�
鈥淚f you were to go study morphology elsewhere, you might never be exposed to anything at the molecular level, like genes or bioinformatics,鈥� Dr. Jackman said. 鈥淥r, you could end up in a molecular lab where you never actually get to see or hold an animal in your hand. Together, we provide both of those things, plus the field work. There鈥檚 a real synergy.鈥�
Arianna Kuhn, PhD, 鈥�11 CLAS, 鈥�16 MS, benefited from that synergy from the time she stepped foot on campus as a first-year student until she left with her master鈥檚 degree. Dr. Jackman advised her summer and independent undergraduate research, but Dr. Bauer was her senior thesis advisor, and she was formally a master鈥檚 student in his lab. Dr. Kuhn, who says the two professors were foundational to her career success, was recently named Herpetology Curator at the Illinois Natural History survey within the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign鈥檚 Prairie Research Institute.
For master鈥檚 students like Ed Stanley, PhD, 鈥�09 MS, associate scientist with the University of Florida鈥檚 Florida Museum of Natural History, the work in each lab was concurrent and condensed into his time in the graduate program. The molecular work on his thesis鈥攊nvestigating the DNA-based evolutionary relationships of a group of African lizards鈥攚as done under the guidance of his advisor, Dr. Jackman. At the same time, Dr. Bauer was finding Dr. Stanley opportunities for intensive field work and helping him engage with the historical and biological meaning of his work.
Dr. Stanley鈥攚ho came to 柑橘直播 from Scotland unsure of his career goals鈥攊s now considered the world鈥檚 foremost expert in the use of micro-computer tomography (CT) scanning to study the evolution of snakes, lizards and amphibians. His current PhD candidate recently completed master鈥檚-level work with Dr. Bauer, and the professor continues to collaborate with both Drs. Bauer and Jackman on numerous projects.
鈥淎ll of us are connected, and that tether keeps growing longer,鈥� Dr. Stanley said. 鈥淵ou might be out the door [at 柑橘直播], but that door of opportunities never closes.鈥�
Dr. Bauer searches for a book on one of the bookcases in his home library. His collection of 20,000 herpetology texts鈥攁nd his knowledge of each of them鈥攁re inavulable and otherwise inacessible resources for students.
In the 2012 movie 鈥淭he Amazing Spiderman,鈥� the superhero鈥檚 nemesis鈥攁n evil reptile researcher aptly named 鈥淭he Lizard鈥濃�攊s depicted in a scene in front of his large scientific library. But during production, the filmmakers received feedback that their library didn鈥檛 look very scientific. One of them contacted a professor he knew at 柑橘直播 University鈥攁 professor with the largest collection of herpetology texts in the world. That collection ultimately served as the model for the film.
Dr. Bauer鈥檚 personal library, which he calls his hobby, fills more than just a few rooms in his home and features upward of 20,000 texts in various languages, spanning several centuries and countless subjects. This unrivaled collection, and Dr. Bauer鈥檚 vast comprehension and retention of the material, gives his students invaluable鈥攁nd otherwise inaccessible鈥攁ccess to resources. He uses some of them for curated readings in his coursework and discussions and often draws from them to answer specific questions from students. Dr. Stanley refers to his knowledge as 鈥渢ruly encyclopedic鈥� and Patton calls it the 鈥渨idest and deepest鈥� of anyone she has ever met.
鈥淎nd because of that knowledge, no matter what your interests are, he's able to point you in the right direction,鈥� Nicolau said.
鈥淗is understanding of the natural world comes from a sense of wonder that has been kind of lost in the modern era,鈥� said Phil Skipwith, PhD, 鈥�11 MS, assistant professor of Biology at The University of Kentucky. 鈥淎nd you now see that in so many of the students that have come through his lab.鈥�
Indeed, a common thread among Dr. Bauer鈥檚 students is the contagious sense of curiosity they learn from him. They revel in sharing anecdotes showcasing how his bewildering mastery of literature helped their own studies.
鈥淗e'll pull out some obscure, 18th-century text that only exists physically in his living room to reference something,鈥� Nicolau said. 鈥淥nce we were talking about an ancient species, and he made a point referencing the climate in Eritrea 15,000 years ago.鈥�
鈥淗e can read Afrikaans and also speaks English, German, French and Latin, as good as anyone speaks Latin these days,鈥� Patton said. 鈥淵ou might come across a handwritten German journal that you can鈥檛 plug into Google Translate, but he can translate it for you with no problem. He's literally a better resource than the Internet.鈥�
Both his remarkable scientific achievements and the impressive work carried on by those under his mentorship have shaped Dr. Bauer's legacy.
Famed journalist Margaret Fuller once said, "If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it." Dr. Bauer has been lighting others鈥� candles for nearly four decades, in ways that resonate deeply.
鈥淪omeone with the level of productivity he has could easily become arrogant, or make you feel that you aren鈥檛 worthy of his time,鈥� Dr. Jackman added. 鈥淏ut Aaron is not like that at all.鈥�
Dr. Bauer is accessible and attentive, taking any idea or question posed to him with sincerity, no matter who it came from. He is prompt and incredibly comprehensive in his feedback. Perhaps most important, he is funny, energetic and enthusiastic. Any student entering his lab who might have felt intimidated by his academic stature left after the first day feeling invigorated instead.
鈥淭hat enthusiasm is infectious,鈥� Patton said. 鈥淚t is difficult to be around Dr. Bauer and not develop excitement about this field. You may start off with a passing interest, but you walk away with a passion.鈥�
There is unlikely a herpetologist in the world who would argue in describing Dr. Bauer鈥檚 legacy by his scientific achievements. Humans possess a far better understanding of reptiles because of his contributions, and the reptiles he has studied鈥攑articularly endangered species鈥攈ave been the true beneficiaries of his life鈥檚 work. But for those under his tutelage, that doesn鈥檛 paint the whole picture.
鈥淚t feels a little silly to look at his achievements and say his students are his legacy, but it鈥檚 true,鈥� Dr. Stanley said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all of the above: the discoveries, the publications鈥攈is whole body of work. That includes the continued work of his students. It鈥檚 a real tribute to his teaching and mentorship.鈥�
鈥淗opefully people will continue to cite the things I publish, but eventually they will become old news,鈥� Dr. Bauer said. 鈥淏ut, while there is nobody who does the exact same type of work I do, everything I am interested in is being worked on by these former students. Not only are they pursuing these areas, but they are also taking leadership positions and still interacting with each other.
I get to see them for the first time when they are just starting to have these incredible ideas but still have a lot to learn. By the time they leave, they are leading their field.鈥�
One of his former students just described his 99th and 100th species of Indian gecko. Another has become what Dr. Bauer calls 鈥渢he world expert鈥� in a large group of snakes with knife-like teeth. Still others, like Dr. Stanley and his micro-CT scanning, are renowned for a technique. Bauer Lab alumni have gone to careers studying skinks, Australian and South American frogs, Asian snakes, reptile specimens found in amber and a 鈥渧ast majority鈥� of the 40 families of lizards, including, of course, geckos. Many who haven鈥檛 remained in herpetology pursued similar work in other zoological branches, researching weaver birds, insects and marsupials.
All of their successes are further inspiration to current students like Nicolau, who intends to pursue his PhD in South Africa and, like his predecessors, continue collaborating with Dr. Bauer.
Those successes are also why that photo taken at the 2024 World Congress of Herpetology in Borneo鈥攁nd others like it鈥攊s a source of pride for Dr. Bauer. It is an opportunity to see a large number of his students together and witness firsthand their continued enthusiasm for the field. It is also personal; these are not just students, colleagues and collaborators, but also friends.
鈥淪eeing everyone together makes me incredibly proud and always reminds me that I can't imagine a job I would have ever preferred more than this one.鈥�