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.

I became a STEM Core Affiliate in 2024.

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.

For the last year I have been leading a team of undergraduate students to curate and digitize bee specimens on a Texas Parks and Wildlife grant. Along with students Reannah Hollaway and Joshua Winsauer, directed by Dr. Scott Longing, we presented a poster about digitized sweat bees at the TTU Undergraduate Research Conference in April 2024.

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!

I presented a poster about the process and main results of this project at the TTU Undergraduate Research Conference in April 2024 and tied for the First Place of the LEDA Outstanding Presenter Energy & Environment Award.

 

Gyliana Larracuente   

Undergraduate student, Department of Biology 
 
I'm currently a senior pursuing a B.S. in Microbiology at Texas Tech and joined the Invertebrate Zoology Collection team in June 2024. I work on sorting, cataloging, and mounting confiscated butterflies donated by US Fish and Wildlife Service. 

 

 

 

Volunteers

We welcome anyone with the time and interest to work with the collection. No experience is needed and you will be trained for the activities that you will develop.

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.

Isabella Pettiet

I am a biology student who began volunteering in the Invertebrate Zoology Collections in the fall of 2023. Currently, I am working on sorting the longhorn beetle collection. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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).

 

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.

Rachael Johnston

Undergraduate student, Department of Plant and Soil Science

I'm a 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. I presented a poster with the main results of this effort at the TTU Undergraduate Research Conference in April 2024.

 

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