Current Lab Members
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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
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Zeke Gonzalez
Doctoral Student
Biological Sciences - Behavior, Evolution, Ecology & Systematics (BISI-BEES)
Email:  zgonzale@umd.edu

Research Interest              
Evolution of reproductive morphology and behavior in harvestmen


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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
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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.
 
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.