Trevor’s BIG4 PhD project "Origin and diversification of hoverflies: a revision of the genera Asarkina and Allobaccha" involves working in the Diptera Section at the Alexander Koenig Research Museum (German: Zoologische Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig) (ZFMK), in Bonn, Germany on a revision of the genera Asarkina Macquart and Allobaccha Curran (Diptera: Syrphidae) with supervisor Dr. Ximo Mengual. Particular focus will be given to establishing strong molecular support to species concepts using anchored hybrid-enrichment techniques that will underscore range, genitalia and exterior morphology.
Trevor is a Canadian, who completed his BSc. in Biology at Trent University in Peterboroug, Ontario. His honours thesis examined species richness and diversity of carabid beetles between disturbed and undisturbed habitats. His MSc. thesis under Dr. Jeffrey H. Skevington involved a revision of the Nearctic Conopidae with research carried out at the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes. All eight genera were treated with many new species described. Trevor has been published in The Canadian Entomologist and Fossil Record and will be submitting several more revision papers to Zootaxa and other journals, including a paper on specialized conopid genitalia, a new seven-specimen Myopinae fossil description, and a physiology and biomechanics paper on the oviposition of Stylogaster.
Trevor is an avid field collector, illustrator and photographer, with experience in web design, media and public relations, a practiced debater, and an outspoken defender of science. He is very interested in the study of the Philosophy of Science, Epistemology, Metaphysics and/or Ontology. He hopes to apply his enthusiasm for science and discovery to the BIG4 project, and make many new friends and colleagues from around the world.
Find out more about the project: "Origin and diversification of hoverflies: a revision of the genera Asarkina and Allobaccha"