People
Jennifer C. Girón, Ph.D.
Curator
I oversee all activities at the collection: processing loans and new accessions, curation
and identification of specimens, training of students and volunteers.
I also participate from several research projects at TTU and elsewhere.
More information about my research can be found on my personal website.
Current student workers
Shelby Hernandez
Undergraduate student, Department of Plant and Soil Science
I'm actively working on a B.S. in Horticulture and Animal Science as a double major. I have been digitizing and organizing the leaf beetle specimens in the Invertebrae Zoology Collection since September 2021. I presented a poster about my work with the leaf beetle collection at the Undergraduate Research Conference at TTU in the spring of 2022.
I was awarded the 2022 Undergraduate Travel Award by The Coleopterists Society, and got a chance to present my research project at their annual virtual meeting in December, 2022.
Rachael Johnston
Undergraduate student, Department of Plant and Soil Science
I'm currently a freshman Plant and Soil Science major at Texas Tech. I joined the
Invertebrate Zoology Collection of the Natural Science Research Laboratory in the
spring of 2023, databasing the robber fly collection (Diptera: Asilidae) using the
ecdysis portal.
Lillian Prescott
Undergraduate student, Department of Natural Resources Management
I'm currently a sophomore pursuing my B.S. in Natural Resources Management. I started
working with the Invertebrate Zoology Collection in the fall of 2023, and as of now
I'm working on sorting, identifying, and databasing the specimens in our mantis collection using the ecdysis portal!
Past student workers
Alyssa DeWaele
Graduate student, Heritage & Museum Sciences
I'm pursuing a M.A. in Museum Sciences with minors in Anthropology and Heritage Management.
I have been working in the Invertebrate Zoology Collection since February 2021, digitizing
the bee collection and helping with various other collections tasks. During this time
I developed a protocol for digitizing insect specimens using free online tools, which
I presented as a poster at the Mountain-Plains Museums Association meeting in 2021.
I also created some educational content on invertebrate pollinators and presented the talk: "Expanding Access: Creating Outreach Tools from Entomological Collections" at the Annual Meeting of the Entomological Collections Network in November 2021.
Sofia Rodriguez
Undergraduate student, Department of Plant and Soil Science
I'm currently a freshman Plant and Soil Science major at Texas Tech. I'm working with
the entomological collections team to sort, catalog, and mount confiscated butterflies
from all over the world. I presented a poster about the work that we have been doing
with this exceptional collection at the 2023 Texas Tech University Undergraduate Research Conference and earned the First Place Impact Award in the Energy and Environment category. Here is a link to the poster.
Trier Hodge
Former undergraduate student, Department of Biological Sciences
I completed a B.S. in Biologyin the spring of 2023. I started working with the Invertebrate
Zoology Collection as a volunteer, sorting beetles at the end of 2022 and continued
in the Spring of 2023 enrolled in Undergraduate Research (BIOL 4300). My focus at
the collection was an exciting project aimed at creating a comprehensive catalogue
for arachnid species in the mesmerizing Virgin Islands. I presented this work at the
2023 Texas Tech University Undergraduate Research Conference. The poster can be viewed here.
Volunteers
We currently have two volunteers who are retired TTU professors and wish to remain anonymous. One of them identified and digitized the hover fly collection (Diptera: Syrphidae) and is now assisting with imaging projects; the other is imaging the Medical Zoology slide collection and updating those records in ecdysis.
During the fall semester 2022 one additional undergraduate student volunteer from the Biological Sciences Department joined the team: Quentin Fleming started digitizing our robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae).
Additional Resources
- Back to overview of the Collection
- Background and History of the Collection
- Insect Exhibit: Tiny and Mighty Creatures
- Opportunities
- Curatorial basics
- Our specimens in publications
- Our specimen database via ecdysis
- Our specimen database via GBIF
- Documenting Invertebrates around the Museum using iNaturalist
- Guide to commonly observed invertebrates at the Lubbock Lake Landmark
Natural Science Research Laboratory
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Address
Museum of Texas Tech University, 3301 4th street, Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
806.742.2486 -
Email
nsrl.museum@ttu.edu