The following people at Cornell University, listed alphabetically, provided content and assistance for Beetle Science. Please note that information about individuals may have changed since the publication of this Explore Cornell feature.

Frances Fawcett began doing scientific illustration for Prof. Quentin Wheeler in 1985, combining a fine arts background with an ongoing interest in natural history. Her illustrations have appeared in numerous scientific journals and mass-circulation magazines. She specializes in the carbon dust technique, but includes in her repertoire pen-and-ink drawing, acrylic and oil painting, scratchboard, and coquille board. Frances shares her expertise in carbon dust techniques during the summer Natural Science Illustration course which she co-teaches with Bente King at Cornell.

Rick Hoebeke's primary research interests focus on the detection and survey of non-indigenous (exotic) insects among the North American entomofauna. Over the past 20 years, he has discovered many species new to the Western Hemisphere, North America, or the United States, and has written or co-written over 60 publications on these and related topics. Aside from exotic species work, Rick's research interests include phylogenetic and taxonomic studies of beetles of the family Staphylinidae, which he has studied for over 20 years.

Jim Liebherr specializes in the taxonomy and systematics of carabid beetles, a dominant group of predatory beetles found throughout the world. Over the past 10 years he has studied an adaptive radiation of Hawaiian carabid beetles, comprising about 130 species which were derived from colonization by a single ancestral species. His results have been published in The Insects of Hawaii, a long-running compendium of insects native to the Hawaiian Islands. Professor Liebherr's other interests include insects of wetlands and old-growth forests of New York State, especially Tompkins County. The old-growth forest survey is uncovering many species otherwise missing from Tompkins County since the 19th century, illustrating the importance of old-growth stands for maintaining biodiversity.

Professor Liebherr is curator of the Cornell University Insect Collection, the largest and most diverse land-grant university insect collection in the world. He teaches introductory insect biology, and biogeography.

Christopher Marshall's research interests center on the morphology, evolution and biogeography of beetles, especially scarab beetles (superfamily: Scarabaeoidea). His doctoral research investigated the genus Verres, a Central American genus of the family Passalidae. He is expanding his dissertation work through comparative studies of other members of the Scarabaeoidea, in order to understand the evolutionary origins of social behavior in the Passalidae, as well as the family's biogeographic history. Currently, Dr. Marshall and Prof. Wheeler are involved in a joint project to study the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the Cucujoidea -- an extremely diverse group of beetles.

In addition to research, Dr. Marshall has taught the Introductory Insect Systematics course at Cornell.

Quentin Wheeler heads a lab devoted to insect systematics and morphology in the Cornell Department of Entomology. He is jointly appointed Professor to the L.H. Bailey Hortorium (Plant Biology) at Cornell. Dr. Wheeler additionally serves as a Research Associate to the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. He is currently living in Washington, D.C., where he is serving as Director of the Division of Environmental Biology of the National Science Foundation.

Prof. Wheeler's research interests include: Coleoptera (beetle)taxonomy; fungus-insect associations; systematics theory; and, the role of taxonomy in biodiversity studies and conservation. His most recent book was Species Concepts and Phylogenetic Theory: A Debate (Columbia University Press, 2000), which he co-edited with R. Meier. Professor Wheeler is currently at work on a book on biodiversity study and conservation.

Prof. Wheeler teaches introductory insect systematics and has also offered classes on principles of systematics, beetle systematics, and seminars on diverse topics such as species concepts, arthropod phylogeny, and philosophical problems in taxonomy.

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Further Acknowledgements
Two photos of the Asian Longhorn Beetle, used in "Attack of the ALB" and credited therein, were taken by James E. Appleby, Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois. Copyright is held by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

"Virtual Beetles" were photographed by WPG, courtesy of the Cornell University Insect Collection.