Museum and Laboratory Alumni

Robert T. Allen, (1939 – 2016) was a former University of Arkansas Professor of Entomology, is now Adjunct Professor, Mississippi Entomological Museum, Mississippi State University, Starkville. There, he carries out research on the basic taxonomy, cladistic relationships and biogeography of the Diplura and Protura.

Jeffrey Barnes, Curator Emeritus of Entomology. Jeffrey K. Barnes received his doctorate from Cornell University in 1979, after performing the field research for his dissertation in New Zealand. He was employed as a Senior Scientist and Curator of Entomology at the New York State Museum 1980-2000. He joined the University of Arkansas Department of Entomology in 2000 and became Curator the Arthropod Museum in 2002, retiring in 2016. In Arkansas, he performed the usual curatorial duties, adding specimens, controlling museum pests, sending out loans, and so on. He developed displays for public viewing at various venues, including schools, festivals, fairs, and the local farmer’s market. He had a 25 percent Extension appointment and performed an insect identification service, fielding hundreds of identification and information requests each year. He also taught Insect Diversity and Taxonomy for several years and published research on Diptera, especially robberflies. He can be reached at jbarnes@uark.edu.

David Bowles, Ph.D. 1989, is now the Aquatic Program Director for the Heartland Inventory & Monitoring Network, U.S. National Park Service, Springfield, Missouri. He can be reached at david_bowles@nps.gov.

Sydney Cameron, former Research Associate Professor of Entomology, is now Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research concerns social insect evolution and ecology. She can be reached at scameron@life.uiuc.edu.

Chris Carlton, M.S. 1980, Ph.D. 1989, and former Research Associate and Collection Manager, is now Associate Professor of Entomology at Louisiana State University, Director of the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum, and Editor of The Coleopterists Bulletin. He can be contacted at ccarlt@lsu.edu.

Andy Deans, M.S. 2001, received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in May 2005, and after two years of working on the NSF MorphBank Project at Florida State University he has accepted the position of Assistant Professor in insect systematics at North Carolina State University. He can be reached at andy_deans@ncsu.edu.

Dr. Richard Leschen, M.S. 1988, received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas and now works at the New Zealand Arthropod Collection, Auckland. He specializes in the evolution and systematics of fungus beetles and their relatives, and he spends much of his time classifying micro-coleoptera, mainly from Australasia. He can be contacted at LeschenR@landcareresearch.co.nz.

Dr. Carolyn Lewis, M.S. 1996, Ph.D. 2002, focuses primarily on identification of selected insects (pest and beneficial) in transgenic corn, soybeans and cotton in grant-funded projects.She can be reached at calewis@uark.edu.

Les Price, M.S. student 1996-1998, works as a biological science technician with the USDA ARS Southern Insect Management Research Unit in Stoneville, MS.

Lori Spencer, M.S. 1995, now lives at Mt. Magazine State Park, where she and her husband, Don Simons, work as interpreters for the Park. She can be reached at spencer_lori@hotmail.com.

Sandy Tedder, Ph.D. 1991, lives in Rogers, Arkansas. She is a professor at Northwest Arkansas Community College, Bentonville, where she teaches courses entitled “Survey of the Plant Kingdom” and “Principles of Biology”. She spends her leisure time hiking, camping, and looking for new wildflowers. She can be reached at STEDDER@nwacc.edu.

Alejandro Valerio, former Arkansas Ph.D. student, received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) in May 2005. He is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Insect Collection of The Ohio State University Museum of Biological Diversity. He can be reached at valerio.19@osu.edu.

Gerald Wallis, former Collection Manager, retired from the Department of Entomology in 1999. He lives in Tumbling Shoals, Ark. His personal web page is located at http://comp.uark.edu/~gwallis/, and he can be reached at gwallis@.uark.edu.

Jim Whitfield, former Curator and Associate Professor of Entomology, is now Professor in the Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he directs studies on the Systematics and Biology of Parasitic Hymenoptera. He can be reached at jwhitfie@life.uiuc.edu.

Won-young Choi, former Ph.D. student at the University of Arkansas, received his Ph. D. from the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) in December 2005. He has a permanent entomology position with the Bio-resource Management Division of the National Institute of Biological Resources, South Korea. He can be contacted at nnlwchoi@gmail.com.