Leading Entomologist, Researcher, Educator and Field Biologist Dr. Jessica L. Ware will Deliver Macaulay’s Commencement Address on June 7, 2022.
Macaulay Honors College is pleased to announce that internationally recognized entomologist and biodiversity expert Jessica L. Ware, PhD., will serve as the 2022 Commencement speaker. Dr. Ware will address Macaulay’s graduates during an in-person ceremony on June 7 and also receive an honorary degree from the college.
“After everything that our students have been through to earn their degrees, they deserve to be inspired,” said Macaulay Interim Dean Dr. Vanessa K. Valdés. “Dr. Ware’s devotion to the science and her work to diversify her chosen field make her a speaker that our graduates can easily relate to. And, she’s got a great sense of humor!”
Dr. Ware is an associate curator in invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. Her research focuses on the evolution of behavioral and physiological adaptations in insects, with an emphasis on how these occur in Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and Dictyoptera (termites, cockroaches, and mantises). She holds a BSc from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and a PhD from Rutgers, New Brunswick.
Dr. Ware is the co-founder of Entomologists of Color, past president of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association, and serves as current president of the Entomological Society of America. She was recently awarded a PECASE medal from the US government for her work on insect evolution. @JessicaLWareLab
The event will not only recognize the class of 2022, but also the classes of 2020 and 2021, whose commencement ceremonies were rendered virtual by the COVID-19 pandemic.
MEET DR. WARE in this video by the California Academy of Sciences and hear more about her research.