Bill Schutt:  

Life I'm a college professor (LIU Post) and a Research Associate in the Mammalogy Dept. at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. My field of research is zoology (Cornell '95, Ph.D.), especially as it relates to bats (primarily vampire bats). This is no real surprise to those folks who have known me since I was the kid. I was the one with all the weird pets (snakes, lizards, turtles, and a squirrel monkey named "Guggie"). I've been able (thanks to outstanding mentors and a wonderful family) to travel around the world to study bats. And while we're on the topic, only 3 of those 1243 bat species are vampires. Over the past few years, I've become more and more involved with professional writing. Random House published my first general readership book (Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures) in October 2008. The book is also out in paperback (Three Rivers Press). I was thrilled and flattered with the reviews, reader response, and other related accolades. For example, Amazon.com named Dark Banquet "One of the Best Books of 2008" as did Library Journal. Barnes and Noble featured it throughout the 2008 Holiday Season in their "Discover Great New Authors" display. On a related note, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Natalie Angier wrote a feature article on Dark Banquet for the Science Times Section of the NY Times (it appeared on Oct. 21, 2008), and Dark Banquet was the featured/cover article in the Nov. 2008 issue of Natural History Magazine. Reviews have appeared in many publications, including The Washington Post Book W...Expand for more