I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette. My Master's and PhD degrees are from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas and was advised by William E Duellman and Linda Trueb. KU is a well-known center for study of the systematics of amphibians and reptiles.

Following this I did postdoctoral research in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, under the mentorship of David Wake and Marvalee Wake. Berkeley is a top-notch institution and also leader in studies on amphibian and reptile biology.

My first faculty position was at Louisana State University in the Museum of Natural Sciences, where I was also the Curator of Amphibians. Following this I moved to the University of Texas in 1990, first as a research Curator and then later as tenured faculty.