Kartchner Caverns Research Group
The Kartchner Caverns Macro-invertebrate Research Project is comprised of scientists and educators dedicated to the preservation and study of the unique and remarkable macro-invertebrate fauna present within Kartchner Caverns State Park.
Principal Investigator and Co-PI:
Robert B. Pape, Principal Investigator
Dr. Barry M. OConnor, Co-PI
Robert B. Pape, Principal Investigator
Dr. Barry M. OConnor, Co-PI
Collaborators
Darrell Ubick/California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
Dr. Luis Espinasa/Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York
Dr. Felipe Soto-Adames/University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
Dr. R. Henry L. Disney/University of Cambridge, Cambridge England
Warren E. Savary/California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
Darrell Ubick/California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
Dr. Luis Espinasa/Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York
Dr. Felipe Soto-Adames/University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
Dr. R. Henry L. Disney/University of Cambridge, Cambridge England
Warren E. Savary/California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
Arizona State Parks Collaborators
Dr. Sarah Truebe - former Cave Resource Manager at Kartchner Caverns State Park
Dr. Robert R. Casavant - former Cave Resource Manager at Kartchner Caverns State Park - retired
Steve Willsey - former Ranger at Kartchner Caverns State Park
Dr. Sarah Truebe - former Cave Resource Manager at Kartchner Caverns State Park
Dr. Robert R. Casavant - former Cave Resource Manager at Kartchner Caverns State Park - retired
Steve Willsey - former Ranger at Kartchner Caverns State Park
Principal Investigator
Robert B. Pape, B.A. Bob Pape is a consulting biologist specializing in southwestern (U.S.) desert ecology. He has a B.A. (1973) in biology from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. His research interests are the ecology, evolution and taxonomy of arthropods occurring in caves. He has been associated with Arizona State Parks (ASP) since 2009, when a re-inventory of the macro-invertebrates of the cave was initiated. He is a Senior Natural Resource Scientist in the ASP Research, Inventory and Monitoring (RIM) Program. He previously served on the Arizona State Parks Natural Areas Program Advisory Committee (NAPAC). He is a Research Associate of the University of Arizona Insect Collection (UAIC) and a fellow of the National Speleological Society. E-mail: [email protected] Co-PI Barry M. OConnor, PhD. Dr. OConnor is the curator of insects at the University of Michigan - Museum of Zoology at Ann Arbor. He received the Ph.D. degree from Cornell University in 1981. He is a past president of the Acarological Society of America and has held adjunct academic appointments at Ohio State University, Catholic University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico City. Dr. OConnor's major research interests are in the study of co-evolutionary patterns among arthropods, primarily mites and other organisms. These studies entail the systematics of parasitic and commensal mites associated with vertebrates, insects, fungi, and other groups. Studies on ecological interactions within these systems are an integral part of co-evolutionary research, with field studies supplementing laboratory investigations. Systematic research stresses phylogenetic analyses of groups participating in co-evolving systems. E-mail: [email protected] |
Collaborators
Darrell
Ubick, M.A.
Darrell Ubick is a Curatorial Assistant in the Entomology Department of the California Academy of Sciences - Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability. He has a B.S. (1976) and M.A. (1980) from José State University, California. His research focuses on Phalangodid (harvestmen) systematics and the Planetary Biological Inventory of Oonopid (goblin) spiders. Darrell is co-editor of Spiders of North America, a widely used identification manual of the spider genera of North America. E-mail: [email protected] |
Luis Espinasa, PhD.
Dr. Espinasa is an Associate Professor of Biology at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He received a B.S. from the National University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City (1992) and holds a Ph.D. from New York University (1997). He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Maryland from 2002-2003. Dr. Espinasa utilizes cave organisms as modelling systems to research evolutionary biology. His research focuses on two broad areas; one involving the evolution of complex characters such as blindness in teleost fishes, and another studying the phylogeography of cave-dwelling Nicoletiids (Insecta: Zygentoma) using sequence data from nuclear and mitochondrial genes. E-mail: [email protected] |
Felipe Soto-Adames, PhD.
Dr. Soto-Adames is an Insect Systematist with the Illinois Natural History Survey – Prairie Research Institute, Champaign, IL. Dr. Soto-Adames received a B.S. (1983) and M.S. (1987) from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaquez. He holds a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Illinois (1995). His research focus is in the systematics, phylogeny and evolution of Collembola and evolution of arthropod muscle proteins. Ongoing projects include a historical collections-based evaluation of changes in Illinois springtail communities; taxonomy and phylogeny of entomobryid springtails; analysis of the distribution of muscle proteins in arthropods; taxonomy, biogeography and organization of springtail community assemblages in the eastern Caribbean islands. E-mail: [email protected] |
R. Henry L. Disney, PhD.
Dr. Disney is Senior Research Associate at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, England. Dr. Disney’s research has ranged from medical to forensic entomology and taxonomy. The primary focus of his research is on the Diptera (flies, midges and gnats), particularly their interactions with other organisms. His specialty is the natural history, taxonomy and phylogeny of the scuttle flies (family Phoridae). E-mail: [email protected] |
Warren
E. Savary, M.A.
Warren Savary is a Field Associate with the California Academy of Sciences Department of Entomology. He received an A.A. in Biology from the College of San Mateo (1972), and a B.A. (1974) and M.A. (1990) in Ecology and Systematic Biology from San Francisco State University. His current research interests are the systematics and phylogeny of the arachnid orders Solifugae and Scorpiones and the biogeography of western North America. E-mail: [email protected] |
Arizona State Parks Collaborators
Dr. Sarah Truebe
Former Cave Resource Manager, Kartchner Caverns State Park
Arizona State Parks and Trails Science and Research Coordinator
Ph.D., Geosciences, University of Arizona, focused on cave and climate science,
minor in Global Change
M.S., Earth Systems, Stanford University
B.S., Earth Systems, Stanford University
E-mail: [email protected]
Southwestern Regional Coordinator for the National Cave Rescue Commission
Director of Research, The Underground Conservancy
Former Cave Resource Manager, Kartchner Caverns State Park
Arizona State Parks and Trails Science and Research Coordinator
Ph.D., Geosciences, University of Arizona, focused on cave and climate science,
minor in Global Change
M.S., Earth Systems, Stanford University
B.S., Earth Systems, Stanford University
E-mail: [email protected]
Southwestern Regional Coordinator for the National Cave Rescue Commission
Director of Research, The Underground Conservancy
Robert R. Casavant, PhD.
Collaborator Emeritus
Arizona State Parks Research and Science Manager - Retired
Ph.D., Geosciences (major)/Remote Sensing and Planetary
Sciences (minor), University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ., and two B.S. degrees in Geology/Oceanography and Zoology from Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois.
Dr. Casavant was the driving force and supporting colleague responsible for re-instituting arthropod studies as a portion of STEM related research in the caverns beginning in 2009. Our two-year study that he oversaw revisited and augmented the original study conducted 20 years previously by Dr. Calvin Welbourn, which served as an element of the pre-development studies of Kartchner Caverns prior to commercialization of the caverns by the State of Arizona. His foresight resulted in the creation of the Kartchner Caverns Research Project and ongoing arthropod research in the Park.
Collaborator Emeritus
Arizona State Parks Research and Science Manager - Retired
Ph.D., Geosciences (major)/Remote Sensing and Planetary
Sciences (minor), University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ., and two B.S. degrees in Geology/Oceanography and Zoology from Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois.
Dr. Casavant was the driving force and supporting colleague responsible for re-instituting arthropod studies as a portion of STEM related research in the caverns beginning in 2009. Our two-year study that he oversaw revisited and augmented the original study conducted 20 years previously by Dr. Calvin Welbourn, which served as an element of the pre-development studies of Kartchner Caverns prior to commercialization of the caverns by the State of Arizona. His foresight resulted in the creation of the Kartchner Caverns Research Project and ongoing arthropod research in the Park.
Steve Willsey, A.A.
Speleologist Kartchner Caverns Park Ranger - Retired Retired Fire Fighter Cave Guide for Research Projects at Kartchner Caverns A.A. Fire Science Cochise College 1980. E-mail: [email protected] |
© 2023 R.B. Pape. All rights reserved.