Personnel
The Pompilid Project is a collaborative effort between scientists
at Utah State University
and a retired world authority:
 |
James
P. Pitts, Project Leader, is a Research Assistant Professor
in the Dept. of Biology at Utah State University. His research
focuses on the systematics of several hymenopteran groups, including
Pompilidae, Mutillidae, and Formicidae. Currently, his work
includes revising the Nearctic nocturnal mutillid genera and
he will soon complete a revision of Odontophotopsis.
He routinely applies cladistic techniques for his revisionary
studies and has recently completed a phylogenetic study of Solenopsis
saevissima species-group (fire ants). In this project,
Dr. Pitts is coordinating taxonomic work, developing morphological
character sets, and constructing hypotheses. See Dr. Pitts’s
department
webpage
or contact him by email. |
 |
Carol
D. von Dohlen is an Associate Professor in the Dept.
of Biology at Utah State University. Her research program has
focused mainly on the molecular systematics of Sternorrhyncha
(Hemiptera), primarily aphids, although her graduate students
work on groups as diverse as Odonata, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and
marine worms. She has been active in developing mitochondrial
and nuclear markers for molecular phylogenetics in diverse insect
lineages; her role in this project is to develop these markers
for Pompilidae, lead efforts in the analysis of molecular data,
and assist in the framing of phylogenetic hypotheses. See Dr.
von Dohlen’s department
webpage or contact her by email. |
 |
Marius
Wasbauer, Ph.D., is a world authority on Pompilidae,
currently retired. Dr. Wasbauer formerly held the position of
Senior Scientist (Insect Biosystematics) at the California Dept.
of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA. In this project, Dr.
Wasbauer contributes his extensive knowledge on pompilid taxonomy,
morphology, and behavior to morphological character sets and hypothesis
development, and coordinates efforts to enlist the expertise of
the (few) other pompilid systematists around the world. Dr. Wasbauer
also maintains a large personal collection of pompilid specimens.
Contact Dr. Wasbauer by email. |
Students
involved
 Erik Pilgrim - Ph.D. Candidate
 Joe Wilson- Masters Candidate
 Barry Webster - Undergraduate
Nicole Frank - Undergraduate
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