Affiliate Faculty & Staff
In general, I use the fossil record to reconstruct macroevolutionary patterns and relationships of seed plants. I typically focus on Mesozoic and early Cenozoic conifers and flowering plants; however, other plants are fair game.
Dr. Beard is a vertebrate paleontologist interested in the origin and early evolution of primates and how changes in the Earth’s physical environment have impacted Cenozoic mammals.
My research focuses on collection management – specifically of preservation, digitization, databasing, and maintenance of wet and cryogenic collections. I also have an interest in database development and usability. I have also served as president of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) (2013-2018).
Michael S. Engel presently works on entomological books and, time permitting, smaller projects in bee taxonomy. His list of publications may be found at: http://publicationslist.org/m.s.engel
Richard E. Glor joined KU Herpetology as an Associate Curator in the Fall of 2013. Glor's interest in herpetology extends to his earliest memories.
Liz Kowalchuk is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Visual Art Department and the Museum Studies Program. She formerly served as the Associate Dean of the School of the Arts. With degrees in drawing and painting (BFA, University of Georgia), painting (MFA, University of Illinois), and art education (PhD, Ohio State University), her research interests center on how the arts and museums function in communities, create a sense of place, and contribute to civic engagement. In her creative endeavors, she makes useful things from recycled and found materials.
Kowalchuk teaches MUSE 301, Museums & Society: Past, Present, & Future and teaches graduate seminars focusing on education and local museums.
Dr. Lieberman is a paleobiologist whose research focuses on studying macroevolutionary patterns and processes using the fossil record.
Kate's research interests include American art and material culture, environmental studies and Kansas.
Dr. Town Peterson's focuses on aspects of the geography of biodiversity with a focus on tropical ornithology and systematics.
Mark is an evolutionary biologist with special interest in birds. He has been a collection manager of two major ornithological collections over the past 33 years. The initial eleven years were at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and since 1993, he has been at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute.
Kapila D. Silva is a Professor of Architecture at the School of Architecture and Design of the University of Kansas, USA. He has previously taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from where he received his doctorate and at the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka from where he received professional architectural education. His research focuses on the social, cultural and psychological aspects of architecture, urbanism, and historic preservation. His research has thus far been on global heritage conservation, addressing theoretical and pragmatic issues related to UNESCO’s World Heritage Program, which attempts to preserve and manage historic monuments and sites with outstanding universal value around the world.
Dr. Smith's research combines molecular systematics with the study of social arthropods. I am particularly interested in the systematics, population biology and biogeography of honey bees (Apis) and social spiders (Anelosimus & Stegodyphus).
Dr. Jorge Soberón is mainly interested in documenting and understanding large-scale spatial patterns in the biodiversity of terrestrial species. When he is not working, it is likely that he will be walking outside Lawrence with Tita his wife and their dog, or reading (Medieval History, Physics for non-physicists, or novels). He also tries, somewhat unsuccessfully, to illuminate mansucripts using medieval methods, motives and materials.
