Auchenorrhyncha New Experts at The Simon Lab


Photo UnavailableChris Simon
Principal Investigator
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT USA
chris.simon@uconn.edu

PEET Research

Chris Simon worked with Jason Cryan and Chris Dietrich to write the Auchenorryncha PEET NSF proposal in 2005. She supervises and coordinates Auchenorrhyncha PEET research at UCONN and recruited all UCONN PEET personnel. In 2006 she assisted Jason Cryan to prepare permits to collect cicadas in Chile and in late January 2006 participated in the field work. CS presented an "Overview of Cicadoidea Phylogeny, Part I" at the 2007 Auchenorhyncha PEET workshop in Albany, NY. Chris also prepared permit applications for collecting insects in all Argentinian provinces and National Parks for the next five years and has been collecting Argentine maps and literature on biogeography and distributions of Argentine insects. Currently, she is planning future field work with the PEET team in other parts of the world.
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Photo UnavailableJohn Cooley
Subcontract Co-PI
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT USA
john.cooley@uconn.edu

PEET Research

John Cooley assisted Chris Simon in writing the Auchenorrhyncha PEET NSF proposal in 2005. John also converted the Simon Lab databases to MySQL. He developed a new Python web interfaces, using the Google Maps API to make highly detailed maps of search results. He is currently developing the next generation of search engine for the databases. This will be a progressive search engine (meaning that each choice made along the way will restrict all subsequent choices) that will also form the core of the taxonomic databases (the next major part to add to the website). John has developed new datalogging GPS units for use in the field, and also participated in collecting trips in Australia and New Zealand. He is currently working on several periodical cicada (Magicicada) projects, as well as a taxonomic description of a previously undescribed New Zealand cicada from the northern half of the South Island.
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Photo UnavailableAllen Sanborn
Subcontract Co-PI
School of Natural and Health Sciences, Barry University, Miami Shores, FL USA
asanborn@mail.barry.edu

PEET Research

Allen Sanborn assisted Chris Simon in writing the Auchenorryncha PEET NSF proposal in 2005. Allen provided background information on the taxonomy of North and Latin American cicadas. At the 2007 Auchenorhyncha PEET workshop in Albany, NY, he presented an "Overview of Cicadoidea Phylogeny. Part II. Morphological characters important in cicada taxonomy". He assisted Chris Simon in preparation of Argentinian collecting permits, and he is assisting in identifying Latin American material. He will train Geert Goemans in cicada taxonomy, and he helped develop a recruitment and training plan for a Latin American cicada taxonomy trainee.
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Photo UnavailableYoung June Lee
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT USA
cicadero@unitel.co.kr

PEET Research

Young June Lee participates in the PEET project on his own financing. He joined the Simon lab in March 2007 and began to learn extraction, PCR, and sequencing. Working with both dried and frozen specimens, using molecules and morphology, he has begun to: 1) explore the relationships of Asian Cicadetta to other Palearctic Cicadetta, and 2) revise the intra-tribal and intra-subtribal relationships of the genera currently in Cicadini (with Dundubiini). Young June is also preparing a manuscript revising the Korean Cicadidae based on morphology and molecules. He is also currently finalizing a bibliography and synonymic list of the Vietnamese Cicadidae.



Photo UnavailableGeert Goemans
Ph.D. Researcher
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT USA
ggoemans@gmail.com

PEET Research

Geert Goemans plans to monograph a genus (to be chosen) of South American cicadas and to produce an interactive key on South American cicadas. He attended the 2007 Auchenorrhyncha PEET workshop in Albany, NY. He has collected in 2007 in Bolivia and he participated in the January 2008 field trip to Argentina, which included participants from all Auchenorrhyncha PEET institutions. He also assisted Chris Simon in the preparation of the Argentinian collecting permits. Geert is currently curating the Neotropical collection and learning molecular techniques.



Photo UnavailableRachel Krauss
Undergraduate Researcher
NSF NEON
rachel.krauss@uconn.edu

PEET Research

Undergraduate researcher Rachel Krauss began work in the Simon Lab in Fall 2007 by participating in an on-going Simon Lab georeferencing project led by John Cooley to update periodical cicada emergence records/distribution maps that originated in the 19th century. She spent Spring 2008 in New Zealand studying the genetics and management of Kiwis before joining the EEB BS/MS program in Fall 2008. She is currently finishing up a study of the taxonomy, phylogenetics, and biogeography of the Australian cicada genus Gudanga in collaboration with Dave Marshall, Kathy Hill, and Chris Simon. There are estimated to be 9 species of Gudanga based on recent collecting and most of these are described. Gudanga are distributed across arid Australia and the Simon lab has collected most of them. Gudanga are related to the Australian genus Pauropsalta as suggested by morphology and supported by recent molecular studies (Vanderpool, Marshall, Hill and Simon, unpubl). Gudanga species are interesting because they have very subtle (or no) song differences between some of the named species, which are mostly described from hindwing and abdominal color patterns. Some of these are recorded as occurring sympatrically. Rachel used the Automontage photographic system to study morphological characters, and learned extraction, amplification, sequencing, alignment, and analysis of DNA data. Rachel explored genetic variation within and among species and constructed phylogenetic trees for populations and species of Gudanga. She discovered several possible new species based on DNA, song, geographic and morphological data. Rachel presented her work as a poster at the UCONN campuswide "Frontiers in Undergraduate Research Colloquium". After graduating in May 2009, Rachel will take up a 6-month research internship in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park monitoring the effects of invasive species on endemic Hawaiian organisms.




Other participants in this research

Photo UnavailableThomas Buckley

Landcare Research,
Auckland, New Zealand
buckleyt@LandcareResearch.co.nz
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Photo UnavailableBen Price

Natural History Museum, London UK
ben.wills.price@gmail.com
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Photo UnavailableChris Owen
Ph.D. Researcher
George Washington University
chris.owen@uconn.edu

PEET Research

Chris Owen is supported by another NSF award but he is working on a morphological and molecular phylogeny of the Australian genus Pauropsalta that will contribute to the PEET goals.
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