David A. Steen is an American herpetologist and conservation biologist.
[1] He is Reptile and Amphibian Research Leader of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission), and was previously a research professor at Auburn University, where he completed his Ph.D.[2][1] Steen runs a popular Twitter account where he offers reptile and amphibian identification and dispels myths about oft-maligned snakes such as copperheads, cottonmouths, and rattlesnakes.
[3][4][5] He won the Mindlin Foundation's "Mindlin Science Communication Prize" in 2017 for his efforts in online science communication.
[6][7] He is author of the book Secrets of Snakes: the Science Beyond the Myths.
[8] In 2018, along with researchers Sean P. Graham, Richard Kline, and Crystal Kelehear, he described a new species of aquatic salamander endemic to the Gulf coastal plain, Siren reticulata, known as the reticulated siren or leopard eel.