Chen Young, Ph.D.

Biography

Chen Young is an Associate Curator Emeritus in the Section of Invertebrate Zoology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Young arrived at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1980 after receiving his PhD from University of Kansas that same year.

Young’s primary research interests are the systematics and evolutionary studies of Tipuloidea (crane flies). Other interests include field studies and the natural history of Tipulidae, including: larval morphology, ontogeny, ecology and habitat relationships, biodiversity measures, faunistic studies and historical biogeography.

Young’s responsibilities include conducting original and focused fieldwork involving sampling and the study of natural history of his focus group for the propose of enhancing the scientific and educational merit of the Museum’s entomological programs. These efforts resulted in securing funding for several field research projects, developing a large worldwide Tipulid collection, and development of a detailed website on the Crane Flies of Pennsylvania, which includes identification keys.

Young’s field research expeditions over the years include the following: Brazil (1981); Papua New Guinea (1984); Sulawesi, Indonesia (1985); Ecuador (1987, 1993); Taiwan (1988, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011); Poland (1988); Dominican Republic (1990-1992; 2002-2005); Costa Rica (1995); Puerto Rico (1996); Kyrgyzstan (1999); China (2000); Germany (2009); the Canadian Arctic (2007); and Mongolia (2009).

Young, together with Curator Emeritus John Rawlins and Collection Manager Robert Davidson, modernized the Carnegie Museum insect collection facilities, augmented the scope of the collection, and made the collection available to entomological research communities around the world