Associate Curator, Invertebrate Zoology
Biography
Ainsley Seago is the associate curator for the Section of Invertebrate Zoology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. She earned her B.S. in entomology from Cornell University in 2003 and her Ph.D. in entomology from U.C. Berkeley in 2008. After six years of postdoctoral research in beetle systematics at the Australian National Insect Collection, she served as the insect collection manager for the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Biosecurity Collection from 2015-2020. This work involved both collection management and rapid insect diagnostics for biosecurity purposes. Her ongoing research projects examine the diversity of truffle beetles (Leiodidae), early beetle relationships with flowering plants, and the evolution of insect iridescence.
Dr. Seago returned to the United States in 2020 to join the staff of the Section of Invertebrate Zoology. As a curator, her goals are to continue her research on Coleoptera systematics while overseeing the ongoing work of supporting entomological research worldwide by increasing access to type specimens, historical collections, and essential reference collections at CMNH. She is a member of the Entomological Society of America and a past president of the Coleopterists’ Society. She is also an adjunct instructor at Carnegie Mellon University, where she teaches courses on insect biomechanics, color patterns, and bio-inspired design.
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Meet Ainsley Seago, New Associate Curator of Invertebrate Zoology
Dr. Ainsley Seago studies the evolutionary history of beetles, from systematics and diversification of Staphylinoidea (rove, carrion, and fungus beetles) to the …
