Staff
Current staff of Arachnology at AMNH
Pío A. Colmenares
Museum Specialist, Arachnid and Myriapod Collections
Pío is an arachnologist with experience in taxonomy and ecology. His main research interests are the taxonomy, systematics, ecology, conservation and biogeography of Opiliones. In addition to working with Opiliones, he also has experience in the taxonomy of other arachnid orders, such as Amblypygi, Schizomida, Solifugae, and spiders of the family Pholcidae. Pío joined the AMNH staff in 2016 and is currently in charge of the Arachnid and Myriapod Collections.
Pío began his studies at the University of Zulia (LUZ) in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where he received his undergraduate degree in biology in 2008. During his time as a student, he worked in the Museum of Biology at La Universidad del Zulia (MBLUZ). Upon graduating, he started working as a research assistant of the Biodiversity Unit at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC) in Caracas, Venezuela. In 2009 he studied at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, where he received training in curatorial techniques and management of various natural history collections. In 2015, he defended his doctoral thesis on Amazonian Harvestmen communities at the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) in Manaus, Brazil.
Contact
Division of Invertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY 10024-5192
USA
Email: pcolmenares@amnh.org
Phone: (212) 769-5614
Steve Thurston
Scientific Illustrator
While completing his BS in Horticulture at the University of Connecticut (1977), Steve was trained by M.J. Brush in the Biological Illustration studio and began working as a scientific illustrator, drawing bugs for Dr. James A. Slater. He later received his MFA in New Genres/Video at The San Francisco Art Institute and has worked variously as a carpenter, video maker, artist and illustrator. He began full time employment at the AMNH in 1999 as a Scientific Assistant, providing illustration, photo and graphic support to the Division of Invertebrate Zoology.
Louis Sorkin
Visiting Scientist, New York Entomological Society
Lou began his career in arachnid studies during his graduate work at the University of Connecticut where he researched arthropod parasites of spiders. In 1978, Lou began work on spiders and other arachnids under Dr. Norman Platnick, in what was then the Department of Entomology at the AMNH. Over the years he sorted through many spider collections and labeled thousands of vials and worked with many arachnologists, some visiting and examining the museum's collection and sometimes at other institutions during his visits or on excursions from arachnology meetings. He deals with many public inquiries regarding insects and other arthropods. He has interests in entomophagy and forensic entomology (the latter includes stored products, urban, and medico-legal studies). Some of the cases and investigations have been aired online, on television and radio and in the print media. At present, some of his studies include investigations of the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) due to the relatively recent increase in infestations of many homes, business, hotels, by this insect and for which he receives inquiries on their natural history and biology and management. He keeps a few bed bug colonies for study and for educational purposes. After 43 years of dedicated service, Lou retired from his position as Museum Specialist for the Spider Collection in early 2020. He will remain associated with the AMNH Invertebrate Zoology Division to continue with his outreach activities and the organization of the New York Entomological Society.
Vladimir Ovtsharenko
Research Associate, Hostos Community College
Vladimir is a research associate in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and Curator of the Arachnological Collections at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Ovtsharenko's research is on spider taxonomy: the science of identifying and classifying species according to their evolutionary relationships. Since the AMNH houses the largest spider collection in the world, with over a million spider specimens, and the arachnological research carried out there is among the best in the world, it is an ideal place for Vlad to work.
Contact
Email: ovtshare@amnh.org
Phone: (212) 769-5618
Boris Zakharov
Research Associate, La Guardia Community College
Boris has a wide range of research experiences and interests, primary within the fields of Invertebrate Zoology, Biogeography, Evolution and System Theory approach in Biology. His Master's project in Arachnology (1979) was performed at Far East State University at city Vladivostok (Russia) and dedicated to orb-weaving spiders Family Araneidae of South East Russia. In 1989, he earned his PhD in Entomology from Novosibirsk Biological Institute and it was dedicated to horse flies and deer-flies (Insecta, Diptera, Tabanidae) of South-East Transbaikalia. Currently, Boris am working in collaboration with Vladimir Ovtcharenko on the study of the ground spiders of Australia and New Zealand and the study of invertebrate dynamics in the Black Rock Forest.
Contact
Email: zakharov@amnh.org
Phone: (212) 769-5609
Alumni
Former staff of Arachnology at AMNH
Eleanor Goetz
Lab Technician
Staff from 2019 to 2021
Eleanor graduated from Smith College in 2019 with a BA in Biological Sciences, where she was a member of the Katz Lab and focussed on the lifecycles of foraminifera. She started in the Prendini lab as a Science Research Mentoring Program student in 2013 and continued to volunteer before starting as a Lab Technician in the fall of 2019. Eleanor currently works in the molecular lab doing DNA extractions, PCRs, Sanger Sequencing preparations, and generating molecular data.
Michelle Locke
Scientific Assistant
Staff from 2015 to 2016
Michelle Locke completed her MSc at Carleton University, in Ottawa ON. Michelle's MSc thesis was a revision of the flower fly genus Dasysyrphus (Diptera: Syrphidae) under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Skevington of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. before coming to the AMNH she worked as a contract Research Technician at the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes in Ottawa, ON. Her contract work focused on the Syrphidae collection, doing identifications, curation, databasing, species level conservation assessments, macro photography of specimens and work on a field guide to the Syrphidae. She came to the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH in 2014.
Pamela Horsley
Scientific Assistant
Staff from 2013 to 2014
Pamela completed her MSc in Entomology at McGill University in 2009 and her thesis research included a systematic revision of the hyper-diverse leaf litter-inhabiting genus Trachyphloeomimus (Curculionidae, Entiminae). In 2009, she was hired through an NSF grant as the Entomology Collection Manager at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Her research and work experience has allowed her to do field work in central and northeast Mexico, as well as the south-western United States. She is heavily involved with the Entomological Collections Network (ECN), Entomological Collections Network, serving as president and assisting with coordination of the annual meetings.
Ofelia Delgado
Scientific Assistant
Staff from 2010 to 2012
Ofelia completed her BSc in Biology at the Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in 2000, based on a floristic survey of tropical dry forest. After graduating, she assisted in the curation of the Section of Odonata in the Insects National Collection, Instituto de Biología, UNAM, focusing on the Odonata of Jalisco. Her experience in the field includes collecting arachnids, insects and plants in Central and Southern Mexico. After volunteering in Lorenzo Prendini's molecular lab for several years, she came to work as a Scientific Assistant in January 2010, spending much time working on solifuges and scorpions in the molecular lab.
Jeremy Huff
Scientific Assistant
Staff from 2007 to 2010
Jeremy began working as a Scientific Assistant in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology in 2007. His main research interest is the systematics of the whip scorpions (Thelyphonida). Huff has extensive field experience collecting arachnids in Belize, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grand Cayman, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Malaysia, Martinique, Mexico, Senegal, South Africa and the southwestern USA. He did 10 field trips for the AMNH and has collected several thousand specimens and discovered many new species. Jeremy is also a former volunteer.
Yili Lim
Laboratory Technician
Staff from 2008 to 2009
Yili worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. She assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Tricia Rubi
Laboratory Technician
Staff from 2008 to 2009
Tricia worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. She assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Kaythi Han
Laboratory Technician
Staff in 2008
Kaythi worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. She assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Allison Kerwin
Laboratory Technician
Staff in 2008
Allison worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. She assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Kanvaly Bamba
Laboratory Technician
Staff from 2007 to 2008
Kanvaly worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. He assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Torsten Dikow
Laboratory Technician
Staff in 2007
Torsten worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. He assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Ligia Benavides
Laboratory Technician
Staff from 2006 to 2007
Ligia worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. She assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Randy Mercurio
Scientific Assistant
Staff from 2002 to 2007
Randy joined the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, as a full-time employee in 2002, after completing a B.A. in Biology at New York University. He worked as Scientific Assistant to Lorenzo Prendini and managed the curation of the Arachnid and Myriapod Collections. Randy is a professional photographer and was responsible for producing many of the photographs in publications and the group's website. His other research interests include the taxonomy, natural history, ecology and biogeography of centipedes in North America, as well as their functional morphology. He has collected arachnids and myriapods in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Mexico. Randy is also a former volunteer.
Monica Mosier
Laboratory Technician
Staff in 2006
Monica worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. She assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Kenneth "Tripp" MacDonald
Laboratory Technician
Staff in 2005
Tripp worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. He assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Diana Pietri
Laboratory Technician
Staff from 2003 to 2005
Diana worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. She assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Tarang Sharma
Laboratory Technician
Staff from 2003 to 2004
Tarang worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. She assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.
Rebecca Budinoff
Laboratory Technician
Staff in 2004
Rebecca worked in the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH, isolating, amplifying, and sequencing scorpion, spider, amblypygid, solifuge, uropygid and schizomid DNA. She assisted with the training of postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and high school students, and scientists visiting the lab.