Dr. Richard Clopton

Office/Lab Hours:

Fall 2024

Biol 102-00AA / Introductory Zoology
Biol 311-000A / Evolution & Systematic Biology
Coll 101-00AD / College Success

I teach courses in evolution, systematics, and organismal biology. My research interests include evolution, systematics, biodiversity and natural history of invertebrates and their parasites. I am particularly interested in understanding the forces underlying speciation in hyperdiverse parasitic lineages. My research program is supported through consistent competitive grant support from the National Science Foundation and we have recently finished projects on the gregarine parasites of insects in the Nebraska Sandhills, the Texas “Big Thicket”, and Belize, Central America (photo above). I have recently completed a long-term molecular phylogeny project to resolving major trends in gregarine evolution and establishing the first evolutionary systematic arrangement of the group. My current research is focused on the distribution and biodiversity of North American cockroaches and their gregarine parasites.

My research program incorporates undergraduate research students as research colleagues: they conduct original science, present their findings at regional and national meetings, and publish their results in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Science is a discipline learned by working with other scientists and I try to maintain a vigorous, enthusiastic, and productive laboratory. I am always looking for students who are interested and motivated to become scientists – feel free to stop by the laboratory or visit my research website: science.peru.edu/gregarina