Ever since I can recall, I was fascinated by snakes and other reptiles. My interest took a serious turn at ten when I received my first book of snakes and also got introduced to the local herpetologists. I started working on snake phylogenetics already by the time I entered undergrad. My interest eventually took me to Helsinki, Finland where I obtained my PhD with Distinction for my work on the phylogenomics of Afro-Malagasy elapoid snakes that resulted in the resolution of the last remaining major grey area in the snake Tree of Life and discovery of multiple new snakes families. This is also where I became deeply embedded in European herpetoculture, especially venomous snake keeping (I was already a trained snake handler and rescuer since before), and my forays into this have been the subject of a video documentary by Finnish national broadcaster YLE. After finishing my PhD, I took up this postdoc position with Juha in Hong Kong. I aim to resolve some of the long-standing debates on the systematic status of some of Hong Kong's most medically significant venomous snakes using state-of-the-art bioinformatics and genome-wide data. As a scientist, I am primarily intrigued by the diversity of reptiles and I investigate the origin of this bewildering diversity using phylogenomics, comparative and speciation genomics and a plethora of morphological imaging techniques. Both I and Juha also welcome collaborations and are always enthusiastic to contribute in any collaborative research on reptile phylo-, comparative and evolutionary genomics.