Auchenorrhyncha New Experts at The Cryan Lab


Photo UnavailableJason Cryan
Principal Investigator
Laboratory for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, New York State Museum, Albany NY
jcryan@mail.nysed.gov

PEET Research

Jason Cryan’s research focuses on the higher phylogenetics of Fulgoroidea (specifically, the families Fulgoridae, Dictyopharidae, and Delphacidae), Cercopoidea (he was awarded a separate NSF Systematics research grant for a large-scale phylogenetic investigation of the spittlebug superfamily), and Membracoidea (specifically, the treehopper family Membracidae). Jason worked with Chris Simon and Chris Dietrich to write the Auchenorrhyncha PEET NSF proposal in 2005. He serves as the PEET grant administrator and coordinates PEET research at the New York State Museum. Jason travels around the world to collect Auchenorrhyncha for his phylogenetic research; with PEET funding, he collected Auchenorrhyncha in Chile (2006) with Chris Simon, and in Argentina (2008) with many of the PEET leaders, trainees, and collaborators. Jason also organized the 1st Auchenorrhyncha PEET Workshop (2007), held at the New York State Museum.
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Photo UnavailableLois OBrien
PEET Collaborator
Florida A&M University

PEET Research

An internationally recognized leader of Fulgoroidea systematics, Lois O’Brien’s expertise in the taxonomy of Fulgoridae is legend. Not only does Lois generously provide advice and guidance to PEET project, but she also attended the 1st Auchenorrhyncha PEET Workshop (Albany, NY), where she delivered an overview presentation on the taxonomy and systematics of Fulgoroidea with Charles Bartlett.



Photo UnavailableCharles Bartlett
PEET Collaborator
University of Delaware, Newark DE
02542@udel.edu

PEET Research

Charles Bartlett is widely recognized as an expert in the systematics of the planthopper family Delphacidae (Auchenorrhyncha: Fulgoroidea). His research focuses on the taxonomy and phylogeny of Delphacidae, and he collaborates with Jason Cryan on this, and other research projects within Fulgoroidea. Charles attended the 1st Auchenorrhyncha PEET Workshop (Albany, NY), where he delivered an overview presentation on the taxonomy and systematics of Fulgoroidea with Lois O’Brien.



Photo UnavailableVinton Thompson
PEET Collaborator
Metropolitan College of New York, New York NY
vthompson@metropolitan.edu

PEET Research

An ecologist by training, Vinton Thompson is one of the few experts on spittlebugs (Cercopoidea) in North America. He generously provides advice and specimens to Jason Cryan and his students on their Cercopoidea-related research. Vinton traveled with Jason to Zambia (Central Africa) in 2007 to collect Afrotropical spittlebug specimens.



Photo UnavailableGavin Svenson
Postdoctoral Researcher
Laboratory for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, New York State Museum, Albany NY
gsvenson@mail.nysed.gov

PEET Research

A post-doctoral associate at the New York State Museum, Gavin Svenson is collaborating with Jason Cryan on a large-scale phylogenetic investigation of Cercopoidea. Gavin is also working to optimize new genes for phylogenetic inference in Auchenorrhyncha, an effort which will complement other aspects of the Auchenorrhyncha PEET project. In addition to these projects, Gavin is continuing his work on a comprehensive phylogenetic treatment of praying mantises (order Mantodea), which he began as a PhD candidate at Brigham Young University.



Photo UnavailableAdam Bell
Ph.D. Researcher
New York State Museum
abell@mail.nysed.gov

PEET Research

Adam Bell is a PhD student in Jason Cryan’s lab at the New York State Museum; his research focuses on the systematics of the spittlebug superfamily Cercopoidea. Although Adam is not primarily funded by the Auchenorrhyncha PEET grant, his research goals (phylogenetic investigation of Cercopoidea using morphological and molecular data, construction of interactive identification keys, etc.) dovetail with the PEET grant goals and he will interact with the other PEET trainees.



Photo UnavailableJulie Urban
Past Participant
New York State Museum
jurban@mail.nysed.gov

PEET Research

Julie Urban’s research focuses on the systematics of Fulgoroidea (specifically, the families Fulgoridae and Dictyopharidae) and their bacterial endosymbionts. Julie completed her MS (2005) and PhD (2008) degrees in Jason Cryan’s lab at the New York State Museum, during which time she was partially funded by the Auchenorrhyncha PEET grant. As part of her PEET-related research, Julie generated a morphological data set for phylogenetic inference in the planthopper Fulgoridae.






Funding for this website and research described herein was provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) grant 05-29679 (PEET). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.


© 2008