'Michael S. Engel' (born 24 September 1971 in Creve Coeur, Missouri) is a
paleontologist and
entomologist. He has undertaken field work in
Central Asia,
Asia Minor, and the Western Hemisphere, and published more than 200 papers in
scientific journals. He gained his training at the
University of Kansas where he received a B.S. in Cellular Biology and a B.A. in Chemistry in 1993, and at
Cornell University where in 1998 he obtained his Ph.D. in
Entomology. In 2006 he was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship for his work in insect paleontology. Dr. Engel is an authority on the geological history,
phylogeny, and
taxonomy of insects, and has made particular contributions to the systematics of living and fossil
Zoraptera,
Isoptera,
Dermaptera,
Raphidioptera,
Neuroptera, and
Hymenoptera, most notably the
bees, including the
honey bees (genus ''
Apis''). Some of Dr. Engel's research images have been included in art exhibits on the aesthetic value of scientific imagery
[1].
Among his positions are Research Associate at the
American Museum of Natural History in New York, Fellow of the
Linnean Society of London, and joint appointments as Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Curator-in-Charge in the Division of Entomology and Courtesy Curator in the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology of the Natural History Museum at the
University of Kansas.
Ismael A. Hinojosa-Díaz, Daniel J. Bennett, Stephanie J. Swenson, Ming-luen Jeng, and Steven R. Davis are just some of his numerous students from all over the world
[2].
With
David Grimaldi, also an insect systematist and paleontologist, he is co-author of ''Evolution of the Insects'' (2005).
Awards and Honors
Prof. Engel's scientific honors include:
★ Fellow,
The Linnean Society of London, 2000
★
Guggenheim Fellow,
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 2006 (
2006 Guggenheim Fellows)
★ Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, William T. Kemper Foundation, 2006
★ Book Honor Award (for ''Evolution of the Insects''), Skipping Stones, International Multicultural Magazine in Children's Education, 2006
Eponymy
The following species have been proposed in honor of Dr. Engel:
#'''Lasioglossum (Dialictus) engeli''' Genaro (a halictid bee from Cuba)
#'''Braunsapis engeli''' Jobiraj (a small allodapine bee from southern India)
#'''Cretostylops engeli'''
Grimaldi & Kathirithamby (the oldest fossil
Strepsiptera, from Myanmar)
#'''Sigmophlebia engeli''' Béthoux & Beckemeyer (a protorthopteran from the Early Permian of Oklahoma)
References
★
Engel, M.S. (2001) A monograph of the Baltic amber bees and evolution of the Apoidea. ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' '259': 1-192.
★
Engel, M.S. &
D.A. Grimaldi (2002) The first Mesozoic Zoraptera (Insecta). ''American Museum Novitates'' '3362': 1-20.
★
Engel, M.S. &
D.A. Grimaldi (2004) New light shed on the oldest insect. ''Nature'' '427': 627-630.
★
Evolution of the Insects, Grimaldi, D. & Engel, M.S., , , Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-521-82149-5
External links
★
Entomology at the University of Kansas
★
Scientific contributions of Dr. Engel
★
Tree of Life contributions by Dr. Engel