Current Lab Members

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
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
Lab Alumni

Gussie Maccracken
PhD, Department of Entomology
Co-advisor: Conrad Labandeira, Paleobiology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution
Currently Assistant Curator of Paleobotany, Denver Museum of Nature & Science (Website)
Research Interest
Paleobotany, especially interactions between plants and insects in the Late Cretaceous of North America
Publications
PhD, Department of Entomology
Co-advisor: Conrad Labandeira, Paleobiology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution
Currently Assistant Curator of Paleobotany, Denver Museum of Nature & Science (Website)
Research Interest
Paleobotany, especially 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.

Grace Anderson
Master of Science, Department of Entomology
Former Assistant Director, Bug Camp: Insects, Science & Society
Master of Science, Department of Entomology
Former Assistant Director, Bug Camp: Insects, Science & Society

Mercedes Burns
Behavior, Ecology, Evolution & Systematics (BEES) Program (PhD, 2014)
Currently 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)
Behavior, Ecology, Evolution & Systematics (BEES) Program (PhD, 2014)
Currently 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.

Andrew Sensenig
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
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.
- 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.

Elizabeth Ingianni
MS, 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)
MS, 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.

Heather M. Wilson, PhD, University of Manchester
Postdoctoral Researcher
Currently at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
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.

Ethan Kane
Dept of Entomology (MS, 2003)
Currently Assistant Director, National Identification Services, USDA-APHIS
Thesis: A Maximum Parsimony Phylogeny of the Mite Family Tenuipalpidae (Acari: Tetranychoidea) Based on Setal Characteristics.
Dept of Entomology (MS, 2003)
Currently Assistant Director, National Identification Services, USDA-APHIS
Thesis: A Maximum Parsimony Phylogeny of the Mite Family Tenuipalpidae (Acari: Tetranychoidea) Based on Setal Characteristics.