The five principal investigators for the RCN are responsible for overseeing activities anchored to the five core research themes of the network—Data Aggregation, Quantitative Analysis, Drivers of Declines, Consequences of Declines, and Solutions—in addition to providing support to network participants, guiding working groups, and leading efforts to build out the network.
Principal Investigator
Dr. David L. Wagner is an entomologist and systematist whose research focuses on the biosystematics of Lepidoptera and invertebrate conservation, especially the importance of early successional habitats to invertebrates, pollinator decline, invasive species impacts, and climate-change threats.
Co-PI
Dr. Christie A. Bahlai is a computational ecologist who uses approaches from data science to help solve problems in conservation, sustainability, and ecosystem management. Her current research focusses on developing tools to support information synthesis in temporal ecology.
Co-PI
Dr. Chris S. Elphick is a conservation biologist and ornithologist with research interests that span behavioral, population, community and landscape ecology. His research interests involve studies of birds in tidal marshes and agricultural settings, species interactions in fragmented forests, the causes and measurement of past and projected extinctions, global insect declines, and ways to better synthesize the conservation literature.
Co-PI
Dr. Eliza M. Grames is a computational ecologist and software developer who develops semi-automated methods to aggregate and synthesize diverse datasets. She applies these tools to bird and insect conservation, especially the EntoGEM project and topics related to global insect decline and food availability to insectivorous birds. She also serves as the Project Coordinator for the RCN.
Co-PI
Dr. Jessica L. Ware is an entomologist and systematist focusing on the evolution of behavioral and physiological adaptations in insects, with an emphasis on how these occur in Odonata and Dictyoptera. She is the current president of the Entomological Society of America, past president of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association, co-founder of EntoPOC, and organizer of the Black Odonatology Working Group.
In addition to the five PIs, the RCN is overseen by a Steering Committee comprised of experts who complement the strengths of the PIs and serve as a guiding body to help prioritize the focus of the network and working groups.
Steering Committee
Steering Committee
Steering Committee
Steering Committee
Steering Committee
Steering Committee