Aquatic Insects: from intrinsic value to partners in conservation by Jeffrey Heilveil

When society focuses on aquatic insects, it's typically from just a single viewpoint: disease vectors, pests, part of a food web, indicator species, etc. When we take a broad view and contemplate the breadth of roles this important group plays, it's hard to comprehend why they are so overlooked. When you add in their astounding beauty and amazing life histories, you end up with some very charismatic not-so-mega fauna.

Jeff earned his undergraduate degree in Natural Resources and Ecology from the University of Michigan (I know, the "wrong" U of M) and then earned a MS and PhD in Entomology from the University of Illinois. His dissertation investigated how the saw-combed fishfly recolonized the eastern US after the last glacial retreat. Jeff then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at North Dakota State University, studying conservation genetics of the White Sands pupfish. Jeff is currently a Professor at the State University of New York, College at Oneonta, where he has been for the last 15 years; teaching courses in stream ecology, entomology and population genetics, mentoring undergraduates and graduates in research, spending 6 years as Chair of the Biology Department, and occasionally getting to do some research on his own.