Dragonflies: From the Arctic to the Tropics

Dr. Jessica Ware explores the origins of Odonata, the order of predatory flying insects including dragonflies and damselflies.  The ancestors of these enigmatic insects were among the first creatures to fly—before birds, bats or pterosaurs.  Using a large genomic dataset, scientists are unlocking their evolutionary history and beginning to understand how flight first evolved.

Dr. Ware is a curator at the American Museum of Natural History where she serves as Chair of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology. Dr. Ware’s 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). 

Dr. Ware holds a BSc from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and a PhD from Rutgers, New Brunswick. She was awarded a PECASE medal from the US government for her work on insect evolution. Dr. Ware served on the Governing Board of the Entomological Society of America for 3 years. She served as Director of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the Society of Systematic Biologists for 3 years. Dr. Ware is the past president of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association and the past president of the Entomological Society of America. She is president-elect of the Society of Systematic Biologists. Dr. Ware is co-founder of Entomologists of Color and serves on the board of Black in Natural History Museums.