Shawn watching some birds in Mexico.
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Shawn T. Dash
Doctoral Student
Dept. of Biological Sciences
University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, Texas 79968
Phone: (915) 747-5443
E-Mail: stdash@utep.edu
M. Sc. Entomology Louisiana State University
B. Sc. (Degree with Distinction) Entomology and Wildlife Ecology University of Delaware
Curriculum Vitae
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Biographic Information
Shawn exhibited a great interest in biology. He was lucky to have parents who fostered his interest in science with encouragement and support; he developed into a young naturalist. He was very
active in high school in the science club, academic club, and was a member of the National Honor Society. He graduated high school (1998) with awards in excellence in science and academic
progress. After graduating Shawn attended the University o Delaware, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, where he earned a degree with distinction in entomology and wildlife ecology
with a minor in biological science in May of 2002. While there, Shawn worked on multiple research projects such as mate selection in cucumber beetles, ants of serpentine barren habitats, Delaware
Nature Society reptile and amphibian survey; plus he volunteered his time in the UD insect reference collection working a san assistant curator. During Shawn's undergraduate career he also acted
as a mosquito taxonomist for the State of Delaware, a laboratory coordinator for the? Delaware Nature Society, and helped several graduate students with their research projects. Shawn had two
research undertakings of his own focusing on ants; the ants of Delaware and the diversity of ant communities in two forest fragments.
Shawn went to Louisiana State University and completed his master's program in entomology in December of 2004. His thesis research focuses on the species diversity and biogeography of ants in
Louisiana. He felt very lucky for the change to study the interesting formicid fauna of the Louisiana. Shawn is currently working on a massive revision of the genus Hypoponera with focus
on both molecular and morphology.
Research Experience:
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Investigating the taxonomy and phylogeny of the ant genus Hypoponera
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Working to publish my masters thesis as a book: Ants of Louisiana
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Working to complete the Ants of Delaware
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Notes on Attaphila texana
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Expanding my personal holdings of ants and learning more species
Publications
Thesis
Dash S. T. 2002. Diversity and Biogeography of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Louisiana with Notes on Their Ecology pp 298.
Online Publications
Hooper-Bui, L. M., and S. T. Dash. 2005. Interesting Ants.
Dash, S. T. 2005. Ants of Louisiana.
Non-refereed
Dash, S. T., L. M. Hooper-Bui, and M. A. Seymour. 2005 The Pest Ants of Louisiana: A Guide to their Identification, Biology and Control. LSU Ag Center publication # 2915.