People

Jacob Gorneau

Undergraduate

I am incredibly interested in arthropod diversity and evolution. I am excited by how we can use phylogenetics as a tool to further understand evolutionary relationships and the ecology of these organisms. I have been involved in research focusing on ecology, taxonomy, and phylogenetics.

My work in the Danforth Lab began in August 2018 working as an undergraduate technician identifying bees for the New York Native Pollinator Initiative, part of the New York Natural Heritage Program, a division of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. In this time, I have received extensive training and experience identifying bees collected throughout New York. This work has allowed me a greater understanding of bee diversity and ecology in New York and has given me experience identifying bees, which play a huge role in agricultural and ecological contexts.

In terms of research, the systems I have worked on have varied widely but have centered on diversity, evolution, and natural history. In the summer of 2019, I conducted research on scorpion ecology as an NSF REU student with the California Academy of Sciences Summer Systematics Institute with Dr. Lauren Esposito and Aaron Goodman. At Cornell, I am working on taxonomic research with micromoths in the Cornell University Insect Collection (CUIC) with Dr. Jason Dombroskie, and I am working on understanding the sociality of huntsman spiders in the context of phylogeny with Dr. Linda Rayor and Dr. Corrie Moreau.

My work at Cornell has ranged widely but is focused mainly on evolution and collections-based work. I have worked in the CUIC since August 2016 and have worked as an undergraduate lead curating the macrolepidoptera holdings. Recently we finished curating the Geometridae, which can be seen here. In the spring of 2019, I curated the Medical and Veterinary Entomology Collection which is used as a teaching and reference collection for those interested in arthropods of medical and veterinary importance. This assisted users of the collection in identifying species of medical and veterinary importance that still need to be added for this collection to become complete.

I’m thankful to be a part of the Danforth lab and the experiences it has given me. Feel free to contact me directly with any questions (jag482@cornell.edu) or visit my website for more about me and my ento-filled adventures!