El the Reptile Overlord
The passion and depth of thinking at Athena’s simply isn’t something you can find anywhere else! Being an Athena’s Junior Instructor is my opportunity to provide the classes I would have wanted to take when I was a student at Athena’s. I literally get to talk about dragons and reptiles as my job to other folks who are as intense as me. I, as a child, would be so proud of who I am now, even if I haven’t quite gotten to my original career goal of taming and riding dragons.
El the reptile overlord [they/them] is a Davidson Young Scholar who has loved animals, especially reptiles and amphibians, for as long as they can remember. They formerly ran a blog and social media campaign intended to make children more aware of snakes, but are now focusing their energies on teaching at Athena’s and spreading the word at professional conferences. They have presented at several reptile and amphibian-related conferences about their research and outreach, including the Tennessee Herpetological Society’s annual conference, Repticon, and the Texas Rattlesnake Festival. They are currently a college student in the Atlanta area. During their spare time, they play Neopets and Pokemon Go and explore HTML, digital art, and 2000s technology and aesthetics.
Photos from El’s presentation at the 24th annual Tennessee Herpetological Symposium:
El’s presentation at the 9th World Congress of Herpetology in Dunedin, New Zealand:
Learn more about El the Reptile Overlord: