Dr. Rodger Gwiazdowski (/(g)wiz·daʊ·skē/)

Insect Evolution & Conservation, Multi-agency Coordination, Philosophy of Science

Rodger's academic work focuses on biodiversity science using insects to develop practical applications from evolutionary and ecological processes, and the conservation of at-risk taxa.

In parallel, he leads multi-institutional conservation and research programs that align governmental (Tribal, Federal, State), academic, and private-sector partners. His approach combines systems thinking with principled negotiation to structure effective collaborations that translate research into applied results.

His work spans biodiversity projects across North America including field research in Mexico, and postdoctoral fellowships in Canada to: discover and describe new species, make new populations of endangered species, advance global biodiversity-informatics infrastructure, and publish >40 peer-reviewed and technical papers. He, and his team's works have been featured by the NY Times, NPR, in national Museum Exhibits, and other media outlets.

Rodger grew up in New Jersey (Exit 14A), where his curiosity lead to work in NYC-area Zoos including The New York Aquarium (marine mammal training, Brooklyn, Surf Ave.), the Bronx Zoo (Pathology Dept., Bronx, 5 line @ E.180th), and helping build the Animal Husbandry Department at the Liberty Science Center (Jersey City, NJ).

Translocation of the Northeastern Beach tiger beetle from Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, MA to Sandy Hook, NJ; in collaboration with the USFWS.

Developing a 3D giant insect exhibit, with Iron Head Studio (Hollywood/Film Costume Designs): https://www.insectgiants.com

Puritan tiger beetle ecology, population dynamics, and recovery in the Connecticut River (This work was a cover story of the Science Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/science/puritan-tiger-beetles-vicious-predators-may-soon-hunt-again.html

NRC 397 – Insect Conservation; co-lead with Dr. Jeremy C. Andersen.

2011 – Joint PhD – University of Massachusetts Amherst – Organismic and Evolutionary Biology & Entomology

2000 – BS – Stockton University – Biology, Minor in Marine Science

Print

2023 The Wandering Naturalist Podcast of Three Rivers Park District, Minnesota. July, Episode 173. One of a three-part series, discussing tiger beetle biology, and conservation https://thewanderingnaturalist.libsyn.com/crouching-tiger-hidden-beetle-if-you-build-it

2021-2022 American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Exhibit: “Extinct and Endangered Insects”, contributing specimens, interviews and video content - featuring the Puritan Tiger Beetle. https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/extinct-endangered-insects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAB3vrYx5iU

2020 Stockton University: The Essential Elements, Fall Issue. For Love of Tiger Beetles. https://stockton.edu/sciences-math/ezine/fall2020/for-love-of-tiger-beetles.html

2020 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, News & Media relations: Researchers to Fan Out on Seaward NJ Beach in July to Seek Tiger Beach Beetle Larvae Relocated from Cape Cod; June 30. https://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/researchers-fan-out-seaward-nj-beach-july

2020 The Cape Cod Cronicle: Tiger Beetles From Thriving Monomoy Colony Transferred To New Jersey Beach; May 20. https://capecodchronicle.com/en/5521/chatham/5852/Tiger-Beetles-From-Thriving-Monomoy-Colony-Transferred-To-New-Jersey-Beach-Monomoy-National-Wildlife-Refuge-Conservation.htm

2019 National Public Radio: NEXT – Episode 164: New England’s Most Endangered Species; Young Climate Activists Take The Lead; Sept. 19. https://www.npr.org/podcasts/497694714/n-e-x-t

2019 The Daily Hampshire Gazette: The fight is on to save the last of the puritan tiger beetles; July 16. https://www.gazettenet.com/Puritan-Tiger-Beetles-26525449

2018 The New York Times: Puritan Tiger Beetles, ‘Vicious Predators,’ May Soon Hunt Again; Dec. 04 (in print Dec. 04, page D1, as The Science Times cover story, above the fold). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/science/puritan-tiger-beetles-vicious-predators-may-soon-hunt-again.html

2012 The New York Times: Exhibits That Only Researchers Usually See; Oct. 26 (in print Oct. 28, page F2). http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/arts/artsspecial/some-exhibits-at-natural-history-museum-are-only-seen-by-researchers.html

2018 WGBY 57, Public Television for Western New England – Connecting Point: Saving the Puritan Tiger Beetle from Extinction; Nov. 14. https://connectingpoint.wgby.org/puritan-tiger-beetle-extinction/

2024 Gwiazdowski, R. A. Principles for Constructing DNA Barcode Reference Libraries. In R. DeSalle (Ed.) DNA Barcoding Methods and Protocols. Methods in Molec- ular Biology Series, Springer Protocols. Humana Press. ISBN 978-1-0716-3580-3. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3581-0
 

2021 Knisley, C. B., Gwiazdowski, R. A. Conservation Strategies for Protecting Tiger Beetles and their Habitats in the United States: Studies with Listed Species (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of Amer- ica, Special Collection: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saaa04

Knisley, C. B., Gwiazdowski, R. A., 2020. Conservation Strategies for Protecting Tiger Beetles and their Habitats in the United States: Studies with Listed Species. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Special Conference Proceedings. Invited paper, in press.

Gwiazdowski, R. A., Andersen, J.C., Knisley, C. B., Griffin, B. P., and Elkinton, J. S., 2020 . First Account of Phylogeographic Variation, Larval Characters, and Laboratory Rearing of the Endangered Cobblestone Tiger Beetle Cicindelidia marginipennis, Dejean, 1831 with Observations of Their Natural History. Insects 11, 708. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11100708

Duran, D. P., Laroche, R. A., Gough, H. M., Gwiazdowski, R. A., Knisley, C. B., Herrmann, D. P., Roman, S. J., and Egan, S. P., 2020. Geographic life history differences predict genomic divergence better than mitochondrial barcodes or phenotype. Genes 11 (3): 265. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11030265

Blair, J., Gwiazdowski, R. A., Borrelli, A., Hotchkiss, M., Park, C., Perrett, G. and Hanner, R. 2020 .Toward a catalogue of biodiversity databases: An ontological case study. Biodiversity Data Journal Online: 27 March. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e32765

Duran, D.P., Herrmann, D.P., Roman, S.J., Gwiazdowski, R.A., Drummond, J., Hood, G.R., Egan, S.P.. 2019. Cryptic diversity in the North American Dromochorus tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae): a congruence-based method for species discovery. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, zly035, 1-36. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zly035

Abell, K. J.,  Gwiazdowski, R. A., Kamata, N., Normark B. B., Van Driesche, R.G.,  2016. The scale and parasitoid community on native hemlocks in Japan. Biological Control 100: 7-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2016.05.006d

Strohm, J.H.T., Gwiazdowski, R. A., Hanner, R. 2015. Fast fish face fewer mitochondrial mutations: patterns of dN/dS  across fish mitogenomes. Gene 572 (1): 27-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2015.06.074

Phillips, J. D., Gwiazdowski, R. A., Ashlock, D., Hanner, R. 2015. An exploration of sufficient sampling effort to describe intraspecific DNA barcode haplotype diversity: examples from the ray-finned fishes (Chordata: Actinopterygii). DNA Barcodes, 3 (1): 66-73.

Gwiazdowski, R. A., and Normark B, B. 2014. An unidentified parasitoid community (Chalcidoidea) is associated with pine-feeding Chionaspis scale insects. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 107 (2): 356-363. http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/AN13041

Gwiazdowski, R. A., Elkinton, J. S., deWaard, J. R., Sermac, M. 2013. Phylogeographic diversity of the winter moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Operophtera) O. brumata, and O. bruceata in Europe and North America. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 106 (2): 143-151.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/AN12033

Vea, I. M., Gwiazdowski, R. A., Normark B. B. 2012. Corroborating molecular species discovery: Four new pine-feeding species of Chionaspis (Hemiptera, Diaspididae). ZooKeys 270: 37-58.  http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.270.2910

Gwiazdowski, R. A., Vea, I. M., Andersen, J. C., B. B. Normark. 2011. Discovery of Cryptic Species among North American Pine-feeding Chionaspis Scale Insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 47: 47-62.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01716.x

Gwiazdowski, R. A., Gillespie S., Weddle, R., Elkinton, J. 2011. Laboratory Rearing of Common and Endangered Species of North American Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 104 (3): 534-542.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/AN10114

Andersen, J. C., Wu, J., Gruwell M. E., Gwiazdowski, R. A., Santana, S.E., Feliciano, N. Morse, M.G.E., Normark B. B.. 2010. A phylogenetic analysis of armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), based upon nuclear, mitochondrial, and endosymbiont gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 57 (3): 992-1003.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2010.05.002

Elkinton, J.S., Boettner, G.H., Sremac, M., Gwiazdowski R. A., Hunkins, R.R., Callahan, J., Scheufele, S.B., Donahue, C.P., Porter, A.H., Khrimian, A., Whited, B.M., Campbell, N.K.  2010. Survey for Winter Moth, Operophtera brumata L. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in Northeastern North America with Pheromone-baited Traps and Hybridization with the Native Bruce spanworm, Operophtera bruceata (Hulst). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 103 (2): 135-145.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/AN09118

Gwiazdowski, R. A.,Van Driesche, R.G., Desnoyers, A., Lyon, S., Wu, S., Kamata, N., Normark, B.B. 2006. Possible Geographic Origin of Beech Scale, Cryptococcus fagisuga (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae), an Invasive Pest in North America.  Biological Control 39 (1): 9-18.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2006.04.009