John (J.D.) Kleopfer attended Christopher Newport University where he received a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Environmental Science. For his graduate thesis, he investigated the resulting intergradation between the introduced Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) and the native Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) in southeastern Virginia. From 1990-2000 he was employed by the Virginia Living Museum as the Curator of Aquariums and Herpetology. In 2000, he went to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Grand Junction Colorado as a Wildlife Biologist in their Ecological Services department. In 2005, he accepted the position as State Herpetologist with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.