Hello and welcome!
As long I can remember, I have been captivated by invertebrate animals of all forms: beetles, slugs, worms, crayfish, anemones… pretty much everything, but especially the insects and arachnids I encountered on an everyday basis. After one overambitious business venture I launched at the age of 7 (wasp nest removal services), and having no exposure to real taxonomy or insect science, I put my love of little arthropods on the back burner—that is, until college, when I discovered that training as a systematic entomologist was actually feasible.
Roughly a decade later, I am now a Visiting Scientist at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Since joining the world of professional science, my interest has only deepened: the more I learn, the more I am awestruck by the vastness of biodiversity.
(c) Brandon Woo, Bugguide.net
My research focuses on a widespread, extremely common and yet understudied group of ants: the “pyramid ants,” genus Dorymyrmex. These ants are well-established throughout warm, dry regions of the Americas, important in their ecosystems, and they coexist well with humans. Nonetheless, there are many undescribed species of Dorymyrmex, even in places like California. Broadly speaking, I am 1) characterizing new and existing species so these ants have proper names and can be identified, and 2) uncovering how they have developed their fascinating “amphitropical” global distribution, in which diversity and density are highest outside, rather than within, the tropics.
My Dorymyrmex work is described in more detail on my research page.
A brief professional timeline
2024– : In 2024, I will start an independent postdoctoral research position in the entomology group at the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung in Frankfurt am Main. I’m thrilled about this opportunity to return to Germany, where I spent a semester abroad in college as part of my German Studies major. (Ich freue mich so darauf!) Stay tuned for updates.
July-Dec 2023: A six-month tenure as a Visiting Scientist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. During this time, I am polishing my doctoral research for publication, getting to know the other AntLab scientists and alumni, and making use of the NMNH insect collection, which includes several Dorymyrmex type specimens.
2017–23: Doctoral training with Dr. Philip Ward at the University of California Davis. I shifted my sights toward insect science, took my first classes dedicated to entomology, immersed myself in the wild world of myrmecology, and developed my independent research focus: the systematics and biogeography of the “pyramid ants” or “cone ants,” genus Dorymyrmex (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae). More information about this study system can be found on my research page or on ResearchGate (linked below).
2016–17: During my post-baccalaureate year, I worked as a research intern at the University of Wisconsin – Madison for Dr. Prashant P. Sharma. In the Sharma Lab, I performed typical evo-devo lab technician duties, maintained colonies of arthropod model organisms (e.g., Gryllus bimaculatus, Oncopeltus fasciatus, Parasteatoda tepidariorum), and harvested insect embryos at various stages of development. I also learned fundamentals of evolutionary developmental biology such as cloning and RNAi. My independent research focus was the historical biogeography of the little-studied harvester (daddy long legs) family Assamiidae (Opiliones: Laniatores).
2012–16: My time at Macalester College (Saint Paul, MN) was a brilliant introduction to many aspects of professional academic life. I joined Dr. Sarah Boyer’s research team, whose lab focuses on the evolution and biogeography of Austropurcellia daddy long legs, which are arachnids, but not spiders—more specifically, “mite harvesters” (Opiliones: Cyphophthalmi). We started with field work, sampling leaf litter in the wet tropics of Queensland, Australia. Back on campus, I learned techniques in DNA extraction and Sanger sequencing, scanning electron microscopy, and phylogenetic methods. To present our findings, I presented several conference posters and eventually published (as first author) the first molecular clock analysis of the genus. During my Macalester years, I was additionally hired as a curatorial assistant for the college’s insect collection—work I did independently—and served as teaching assistant for the introductory biology course Biodiversity and Evolution. I graduated cum laude with two majors: Biology and German Studies.