Texas Native Ready for UA Museum Research, Collections Role

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. John Abbott has been an insect lover for as long as he remembers. He has studied the fascinating creatures for most of his career. The Texas native is now bringing that knowledge and passion to The University of Alabama as the new director of Museum Research and Collections.

“I was drawn to the position because I enjoy collections-based research, and it presented a great opportunity to help further build an already great program,” said Abbott. “My wife and I wanted to stay in the South, and Alabama is a tremendously diverse state, especially when it comes to the freshwater fauna.”

Abbott received his doctorate in biology from the University of North Texas in 1999 with a biogeographical study of the dragonflies and damselflies of the south-central U.S.

After a short post-doc at the Stroud Water Research Center at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, he took a faculty position at the University of Texas at Austin and became curator of entomology for the Texas Natural Science Center at UT.

“I have a great deal of experience working with and building university collections,” he said. “I have also had a great deal of success in promoting citizen involvement with collections. I spent 14 years at the University of Texas as curator of entomology … building that collection from a dusty orphaned collection to the second largest in the state.

“I have also created three different citizen science initiatives focused on dragonflies and damselflies.”

In the summer of 2013, Abbott left UT to become the director of the Wild Basin Creative Research Center at St. Edward’s University in Austin. His research focuses on aquatic insects, particularly the systematics and biogeography of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata).

He has authored many papers on aquatic insects and written three books including, the “Dragonflies and Damselflies of the South-central United States,” and field guides to the damselflies and dragonflies of Texas.

With his wife, he is revising the Peterson Guide to Insects of North America. He is also the creator of several citizen science initiatives, including OdonataCentral (http://www.odonatacentral.org), the MigratoryDragonflyPartnership (www.migratorydragonflypartnership.org) and PondWatch (www.PondWatch.org).

“This new position reflects a renewed emphasis on museum-based research in the University of Alabama Museums,” said Dr. William Bomar, executive director of University Museums. “Besides overseeing the management of our extensive museum collections and conducting his own research, Abbott will facilitate interdisciplinary research projects among our outstanding team of faculty and staff curators.

“His extensive museum experience as a curator at the University of Texas at Austin and director of the Wild Basin Creative Research Center in Texas make him the ideal scholar to lead our Department of Museum Research and Collections,” Bomar said.

While excited to start his new position, Abbott acknowledges that there will be some initial challenges, mainly learning what is in the UA museum collections and looking for funding sources to support the maintenance and research opportunities in the collection. Despite the challenges, Abbott is ready to jump in and can’t wait to get started.

“I’m most looking forward to working with a great team of folks and ultimately helping to elevate the collections and museum research programs,” he said.