Current Lab Members
Picture
Jeffrey W.  Shultz
Associate Professor, Department of Entomology,  University of Maryland -College Park
Phone:  301-405-7519, Email:  jshultz@umd.edu
Blog: A Maryland Naturalist

Research Interests               
Evolution, functional morphology, behavior and systematics of arachnids, especially Opiliones;
evolution of reproduction; species delimitation            
                                         
Education
Postdoc - Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, University of Cincinnati, 1991-1993.   Sponsor: David P. Mindell
PhD,  Zoology, Ohio State University, Columbus, 1990. Advisor: Barry D.  Valentine
MS, Zoology, Ohio University, Athens, 1985. Advisor: Jerome S. Rovner
BS, Zoology, Michigan State University, 1982. Advisor: James L. Edwards

Teaching                                                                              Service & Outreach
BSCI 480: Arthropod Form & Function               Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Entomology
BSCI 481: Insect Diversity & Classification       Director, Bug Camp: Insects, Science & Society
                                                                                                 Subject Editor: Opiliones - Dyspnoi & Eupnoi, Zootaxa
Picture
Gussie Maccracken
Doctoral Candidate, Department of Entomology
Co-advisor: Conrad Labandeira, Paleobiology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution
Email: gussie@umd.edu

Research Interest
Interactions between plants and insects in the Late Cretaceous of North America

Publications
  • Schachat SR, Labandeira CC, Maccracken SA. 2018. The importance of sampling standardization for comparisons of insect herbivory in deep time: a case study from the late Palaeozoic. Open Science 5(3):171991.
  • Serrano-Brañas CI, Espinosa-Chávez, B, Maccracken SA. 2018. Insect damage in dinosaur bones from the Cerro del Pueblo Formation (Late Cretaceous, Campanian) Coahuila, Mexico. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. In press. 
Lab Alumni
Picture
Grace Anderson
Master of Science, Department of Entomology
Former Assistant Director, Bug Camp: Insects, Science & Society

Currently on the hunt for a job in STEM education and related fields.
 
Picture
Mercedes Burns, PhD
Behavior, Ecology, Evolution & Systematics (BEES) Program, 2014
Currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at University of Maryland Baltimore County
Dissertation: Phylogenetic Exploration of Mating System Evolution in the Eastern North American Leiobunine Harvestmen (Opiliones: Sclerosomatidae)
  • Burns MM, Hedin M. Shultz JW. 2012. Molecular phylogeny of the leiobunine harvestmen of eastern North America (Opiliones: Sclerosomatidae: Leiobuninae). Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution 63: 291-298.
  • Burns MM, Hedin M, Shultz JW. 2013. Comparative analyses of reproductive structures in harvestmen (Opiliones) reveal multiple transitions from courtship to precopulatory antagonism. PLoS One 8(6): e66767.
  • Burns MM, Shultz JW. 2015. Biomechanical diversity of mating structures among harvestman species is consistent with a spectrum of precopulatory strategies. PLoS ONE 10(9):e0137181.
  • Burns MM, Shultz JW. 2016. Mechanical properties of male genitalia in Leiobunum harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones, Sclerosomatidae). Journal of Arachnology 44: 199-209.
Picture
Andrew Sensenig, MS, PhD
Dept of Entomology (MS, 2002; PhD, 2009)
Currently an Assistant Professor of Biology at Fresno Pacific University

Thesis: Elastic Sclerites and Hydraulics in Arachnid Locomotion
  • Sensenig AT, Shultz JW. 2003. Mechanics of cuticular elastic energy storage in leg joints lacking extensor muscles in arachnids.            Journal of Experimental Biology 206: 771-784.
  • Sensenig AT, Shultz JW. 2004. Mechanics of elastic extension in the pedipalpal joints of scorpions and solifuges (Arachnida: Scorpiones, Solifugae). Journal of Arachnology 32: 1-10.
  • Sensenig AT, Shultz JW. 2006. Mechanical energy oscillations during locomotion in the harvestman Leiobunum vittatum (Opiliones). Journal of Arachnology 34: 627-633.
Dissertation: Scale Effects on Gill Plate Ventilation Mechanics in Mayfly Nymphs
  • Sensenig AT, Kiger KT, Shultz JW. 2009. The rowing-to-flapping transition: ontogenetic changes in gill-plate kinematics in the nymphal mayfly Centroptilum triangulifer (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 98: 540-555.
  • Sensenig AT, Kiger KT, Shultz JW. 2010. Hydrodynamic pumping by serial gill arrays in the mayfly nymph Centroptilum triangulifer. Journal of Experimental Biology 213: 3319-3331.
Picture
Elizabeth Ingianni
Dept of Entomology (MS, 2010)
Currently a Naturalist and Museum Educator for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

Thesis: Taxonomy of the Leiobunum nigropalpi Species Group (Opiliones: Sclerosomatidae: Leiobuninae)
  • Ingianni EA. McGhee CR, Shultz JW. 2011. Taxonomy of the Leiobunum calcar species-group (Opiliones, Sclerosomatidae, Leiobuninae). Journal of  Arachnology 39: 454-481.
Picture
Heather M. Wilson, PhD, University of Manchester
Postdoctoral Researcher
Currently at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

  • Wilson HM. 2001. Muscular anatomy of the millipede Phyllogonostreptus nigrolabiatus (Diplopoda: Spirostreptida) and its bearing on the millipede "thorax". Journal of Morphology 251: 256-275.
  • Regier JC, Wilson HM, Shultz JW. 2005. Phylogenetic analysis of Myriapoda using three nuclear protein-coding genes. Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution 34: 147-158.
Picture
Ethan Kane
Dept of Entomology (MS, 2003)
Currently Business Systems Manager, Quarantine Policy, Analysis & Support, USDA-APHIS-PPQ

Thesis: A Maximum Parsimony Phylogeny of the Mite Family Tenuipalpidae (Acari: Tetranychoidea) Based on Setal Characteristics.