Pioneers: Research | Innovation | Economic Development

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Richter Lab Promotes Research and Resource Management Dr. Stephen Richter is the poster child for what an avid outdoorsman should look like. He’s wearing a faded yellow The North Face t-shirt while we talk over Zoom in his garage, which, of course, is full of mountain bikes. He’s certainly no stranger to spending time “in the field,” which is a biologist’s term for where they do their research (in the woods and the water). When he started his collegiate journey at Berry College in Georgia, pulling salamanders out of creeks wasn’t on the agenda.

“When I started school there, I was pre-med, I wanted to be a doctor-or so I thought. I wanted to be a pediatrician,” Richter said. “Then I realized that I never really thought twice about it growing up. I got to college and didn’t do as well as I hoped. I really didn’t have the focus I needed.” Sceloporus woodi, aka Florida scrub lizards, a small nearly endangered multi-colored lizard native to Florida, changed his life. “The first meaningful

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