Author: Dr. Chelse Prather
When I was little, I was terrified of insects. My dad, dismayed by this, coaxed me into touching a tiny, green june beetle. After many failed attempts, I determined to do it. Just as my finger was millimeters away from the creature, a huge, predacious beetle flew on top of it and flew away with it. I was scared and screaming, but exhilarated at having witnessed nature in action. From that moment, I was fascinated by nature and how it worked, and where these fascinating little insects fit into the picture.
I have since finished my BS in Biology at the University of Kentucky. I went on to study the role of walking sticks to rainforests at the University of Notre Dame, where I was in the same lab as Dr. Angela Laws. We shared a love of all things buggy. I completed a brief postdoc position at Florida State University, and am now Research Faculty at the University of Houston. I am studying how grasshoppers affect grassland ecosystems. In general I'm interested in how animals, particularly insects, affect ecosystems, and ultimately humans. Check out my website for details about my research.