Carl J. Franklin has held a lifelong fascination and passion for herpetology ​with a keen focus on turtles. Over the past 30 years, he has worked with Texas Turtles, the herpetology departments of the Fort Worth Zoo, Dallas Zoo and the Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center at the University of Texas at Arlington. He has assisted in and conducted numerous herpetological scientific collecting expeditions in Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Java, Sumatra and the United States that have contributed to new breakthroughs in science as well as the discovery of hundreds of new species of amphibians and reptiles. Asides from working within the scientific field of herpetology and being included among the primary authors contributing to Texas herpetology, Carl has bred and maintained several species of reptiles and received the Joseph Laszlo award for outstanding contributions in herpetoculture. He is an avid outdoors-man, photographer, frequent speaker for a variety of audiences and has worked with a number of television documentaries showcasing reptiles. Texas is where you can most likely find him.