Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, the California Academy of Sciences was my very favorite place to spend time. Even in my early childhood, I was fascinated by animals, especially amphibians and reptiles. While still in grammar school, I was raising frogs and toads from tadpoles and had a collection of several different kinds of live snakes, lizards, salamanders, toads, and frogs. I was inspired to go out and collect for myself by my visits to the Academy of Sciences, especially to the "swamp" area of the Steinhart Aquarium, where the reptile and amphibian exhibits are, even today.

There were no classes in biology offered at my high school, so it was not until I entered college, at San Jose State University that I had any formal training in the life sciences. I enrolled as a pre-med student and took courses in general biology, zoology, and botany, but all with an eye toward a career in medicine. In the spring term of my second year, I took a general entomology course as a part of my major in biology. Each student was required to make an insect collection....and I was hooked.

I became fascinated with insects, their diversity of form, behavior, and life style, and with their sheer numbers. The collection I submitted for the class was many times more than the required number of specimens and groups represented. Insect collection and identification became my hobby; my passion. Very soon, I came under the influence of Terry Erwin, now curator at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. who at the time was working on his Master's degree at San Jose State University. I focused my interest and efforts on the beetle family Carabidae, which was also Terry's area of interest. Carabid beetles are relatively abundant and occur worldwide. These beetles are often considered to be helpful to agriculture because they prey on other insects, including pests that destroy crops.

Although I graduated and went on to complete two years at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, my interest in systematic entomology continued and even expanded. During the summer after my second year I went mountain climbing with friends from the medical school in the Front Range of Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Upon reaching the mist-shrouded summit of a 14,000 foot (4200 meter) peak, I spotted a beetle crawling around on the summit cairn and collected it. It turned out to be just the third known specimen of a species last collected in the 19th century. Later that summer, I discovered my first new species of carabid beetle, which I named Nebria desolata, in reference to the desolate spot in which I found it in southern Utah. These two discoveries convinced me that I could contribute to this field. I transferred to graduate school immediately and started on my career in systematic entomology. I've never looked back!

Additional Resources:

Department of Entomology, California Academy of Sciences

Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Ground Beetles (Coleoptera, Adephaga, Carabidae)

Indian Peaks, Colorado Front Range Virtual Field Trip

Insect Collecting Techniques

San Jose State University, College of Science

Tree of Life: Carabidae

University of Alberta, Department of Biological Sciences

California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California