Danielle Schmidt examined the genetics of the Western Rattlesnake across British Columbia for her MSc degree.   More specifically, she looked at two levels of genetic structure in the snakes:   on one scale she examined genetic similarity across the species’ range in the province, and on a finer scale she is investigated relatedness and connectivity between neighbouring den populations.   Her study was made possible by a large number of collaborators across BC and even in Washington state, collecting DNA samples to supplement those coming from our own lab.   Danielle was co-supervised by myself, but she was based at UBC-Okanagan within the lab of my colleague, Dr. Michael Russello.      Dr. Purnima Govindarajulu, the  provincial herpetofauna specialist, also was heavily involved in the project.  Danielle is remaining in the Russello lab to undertake PhD studies on the American Pika.