Roger Gwiazdowski, Postdoctoral Researcher
contact: roger.gwiazdowski@gmail.com
CV April 12 PDF
Research Interests
I particularly enjoy thinking about biodiversity at the species level, where my research explores ways to discover, manage and conserve species.
I study insects, a group with extensive species diversity where I use evolutionary theory to frame questions about species differences; and I explore those differences using methods in molecular systematics and experimental biology. A long-term goal of my research is to develop a vertically integrated view of how species-diversity information is generated, accessed and applied throughout the sciences. Because such a view is multidimensional, I work with several study systems.
I explore methods for species delimitation using pine-feeding armored scale insects (Hemiptera:Diaspididae), and species conservation using tiger beetle (Coleoptera:Carabidae) physiology and behavior. I’m also interested to find intersections between academic and applied research. My current work explores population genetic and phylogeographic variation of two moths: the Winter Moth (Lepidoptera:Geometridae), and the Gypsy Moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), both of which are non-native forest pests.
About Me
The multiplicity of ways to exist as an organism – fascinates me. As a budding diversity junky growing up in urban New Jersey, I discovered bizarre biodiversity at the natural history institutions in an around New York City. These experiences inspired me to work training marine mammals at New York Aquarium, as well as in Zoo Pathology at the Bronx Zoo. While at the zoo and aquarium, I saw ways that their history impacted current practices, and this awareness of institutional evolution made me curious about organic evolution.
Education
2011 Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Joint degree in Organismic & Evolutionary Biology and Entomology
2000 B.S., Biology, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Publications
Gwiazdowski RA, Vea I, Andersen J, C, Normark BB. 2011. Discovery of cryptic species among North American pine-feeding chionaspis scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 47: 47-62. PDF
Gwiazdowski RA, Gillespie S, Weddle R, Elkinton JS. 2011. Laboratory Rearing of Common and Endangered Species of North American Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 104: 534-542. PDF
Andersen JC, Wu J, Gruwell ME, Gwiazdowski RA, Santana SE, Feliciano NM, Morse GE, Normark BB. 2010. A phylogenetic analysis of armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), based upon nuclear, mitochondrial, and endosymbiont gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 57: 992-1003. PDF
Elkinton JS, Boettner GH, Sremac M, Gwiazdowski RA, Hunkins RR, Callahan J, Scheufele SB, Donahue CP, Porter AH, Khrimian A, Whited BM, Campbell NK. 2010. Survey for winter moth (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in northeastern North America with pheromone-baited traps and hybridization with the native Bruce spanworm (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 103: 135-145. PDF
Gwiazdowski RA, Cushing L, Normark BB. 2009. Additional genetic data support native range hypothesis for the invasive beech scale, Cryptococcus fagisuga Lindinger. Biological Control News and Information 30. PDF
Gwiazdowski RA, Van Driesche RG, Desnoyers A, Lyon S, Wu SA, Kamata N, Normark BB. 2006. Possible geographic origin of beech scale, Cryptococcus fagisuga (Hemiptera : Eriococcidae), an invasive pest in North America. Biological Control 39: 9-18. PDF
