People

Steve Taylor

Before retiring from the University of Illinois, I was a senior conservation Biologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey. I remain an INHS affiliate and continue to actively collaborate with INHS staff. Other affiliations include the University of Illinois departments of Entomology and Animal Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology (PEEC) and the Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Lab Alumni

Dr. Aron D. Katz

Aron KatzFormer doctoral candidate, co-advised first with Felipe N. Soto-Adames, ( Department of Entomology) and then with Mark A. Davis (Illinois Natural History Survey)

Research: Springtail systematics and biogeography
Dissertation: The influence of vicariance and dispersal on the diversification and evolution of springtails (Collembola)

Master’s thesis (completed May 2014, under Dr. Felipe N. Soto-Adames): A contribution to species delimitation and taxonomy of North American Entomobrya (Collembola: Entomobryidae)

Dan Swanson 

Dan SwansonDoctoral student (co-advised with Sam Heads/INHS), Department of Entomology

Research: Heteroptera-Reduviidae
Dissertation project: Evolution and systematics of annulate New World Harpactorinae (Heteroptera: Reduviidae)
Master’s Thesis: (completed April 2016): Dead bugs do tell tales: implications of a new fossil assassin bug (Heteroptera: Reduviidae) for the evolutionary history and systematics of an extant lineage

ResearchGate

Matthew Safford

Matthew SaffordFormer Master’s student, Department of Entomology
safford3@illinois.edu

Research: Insects & bats

Masters Thesis: Influence of habitat and bat activity on moth community composition and seasonal phenology across habitat types

Tara Hohoff

Tara HohoffBat Survey & Monitoring Coordinator

Masters Thesis: Eastern Illinois University (advised by Jill Deppe): “Quantifying Bat Detection Survey Methods and Activity Patterns” (2016). Masters Theses. 2514.

Research: Bat ecology, especially bat acoustics & landscape ecology

Mary Best

Lab Technician, Illinois Natural History Survey

Research: Conducting research in molecular lab related to various projects.

 Paul Stevens

Paul StevensFormer Undergraduate Researcher, Illinois Natural History Survey

Research: Conducting research on cave invertebrate communities.

 

Dr. Matthew L. Niemiller

Matthew Niemiller in a caveFormer Postdoctoral Research Associate , now a cave biologist at The University of Alabama in Huntsville

Research: Cave & karst biology, conservation, & management

Niemiller Lab website

 

Scott D. Cinel 

Scott CinelFormer Master’s student, Department of Entomology (graduated July 2016), now a Doctoral Student at University of Florida

Thesis: Transcriptional effects of predator cues in the brain of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) moths exposed to bat ultrasound

Cinel website

Dr. Alan Yanahan  

Alan YanahanFormer Master’s student, Department of Entomology (graduated July 2013), received doctorate through University of Arizona in the Wendy Moore lab.

now: yanahan@email.arizona.edu

ThesisVegetative communities as indicators of Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) diversity

Dr. Maminirina Randrianandrasana

Maminirina RandrianandrasanaFormer Master’s student, Department of Entomology (graduated 2007), received doctorate through University of Illinois in the May Berenbaum lab.

Dissertation (advised by May Berenbaum): Antherina suraka (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae): ecology, systematics, and potential economic uses to promote conservation in Madagascar

Masters Thesis: Feeding habits in immature stages of Isoperla nana Walsh (Insecta: Plecoptera: Perlodidae) in Jordan Creek (Vermilion County, Illinois)

Aubrey Engel

Aubrey Engel at lab benchFormer Undergraduate Researcher / Lab Technician

Research: Conducting research in molecular lab related to groundwater amphipod studies, bats & other cave fauna.

 

Ellen Andrews

Ellen AndrewsFormer Undergraduate Researcher / Lab Technician, Illinois Natural History Survey

Research: Technician in molecular lab, research related to groundwater amphipod studies& other cave fauna.

 

 


Some Current, Recent & Former Collaborators

Aaron Addison – University GIS Coordinator, Washington University in St. Louis
Jason Bond – Department of Biological Sciences and Auburn University Museum of Natural History
Jill Deppe – Wildlife Ecology Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University
Mike Dreslik – Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois
Dan Fong – American University
Tom Gilleland – MineGates Inc., Arizona
Sam W. Heads – Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois
Chris Hobson– Virginia natural Heritage Program
Ed Heske – Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois
Jeyaraney Kathirithamby – Oxford University, United Kingdom
Walt Kelly – Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois
Jean K. Krejca – Zara Environemntal LLC, Texas
Charles Lydeard – Biology and Chemistry Department, Morehead State University
Nohra Mateus-Pinilla – Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois
J.E. McPherson – Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Joe Merritt – Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois
Andy Miller – Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois
Jim Nardi – Department of Entomology, University of Illinois
Wil Orndorf – Virginia Natural Heritage Program
Sam Panno – Illinois State Geological Survey, University of Illinois
Chris Phillips – Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois
Megan Porter – University of Hawaii at Manoa
Will Reeves – U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory
Dmitry Sidorov – Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences – Far East Branch
Michael E. Slay – Ozark Karst Program Director, The Nature Conservancy, Arkansas
Felipe N. Soto-Adames – Curator of Thysanoptera and Collembola, Florida State Collection of Arthropods
Theofilos Toulkeridis –  Escuela Politécnica del Ejército (ESPE), Sangolquí, Ecuador
Jeremy Tiemann – Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois
Bob Weck – Southwestern Illinois College
Jim Wiker – Lepidopterist, Illinois
Tony Yannarell – NRES, University of Illinois
Jamie Zanheiser – Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois
Kirk Zigler – The University of the South