Bob Shoop was the kind of person who made students want to become herpetologists, ichthyologists, or natural historians of some sort, simply by virtue of his energy and enthusiasm for everything he did. Because he spent much of his time in the field, often in the company of students and other colleagues, Bob's dynamic, outgoing nature prevailed in drawing others into the mind-set of being a field biologist (Fig. 1). Bob Shoop loved nature, and so did anyone around him at the time.
C. Robert Shoop was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 12 August 1935. His first name was Clarence, but because that was his father's name, his family referred to him by his middle name. At a pre-kindergarten age, Bob contracted what is believed to have been rheumatic fever. His case resulted in what appeared to be a life-threatening illness, and his family agreed for him to...