Jennifer Thomas

Jennifer Thomas

Associate Collection Manager
785.864.2234
Public Safety Building

I'm the Associate Collection Manager for the Division of Entomology.  My primary tasks include collection recuration, digitization, preservation, specimen preparation, as well as management of loans and accessions for the collection.  I also maintain and develop the collection database in Specify.  I oversee day-to-day division operations, train and supervise undergraduate and graduate students working in the collection, assist visiting researchers, and participate in public programs and outreach activities.
Publications: 

Michael S Engel, Jerome G Rozen, Jr, Paula A Sepúlveda-Cano, Corey Shepard Smith, Jennifer C Thomas, Rodulfo Ospina-Torres, Victor H Gonzalez. 2019.  Nest architecture, immature stages, and ethnoentomology of a new species of Trigonisca from northern Colombia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). American Museum Novitates 3942:  1-33. 

Engel, M.S., A.S. Alqarni, M.A. Shebl, J.C. Thomas. 2019. A new genus of meliturguline bees from Saudi Arabia, with notes on related genera and a key to the Arabian fauna (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 67: 1-23.

Rasmussen, C., J.C. Thomas, & M.S. Engel. 2017. A new genus of Eastern Hemisphere stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae), with a key to the supraspecific groups of Indomalayan and Australasian Meliponini. American Museum Novitates 3888: 1–33.

Engel, M.S., J.C. Thomas, & A.S. Alqarni. 2017. A new genus of protorhyssaline wasps in Raritan amber (Hymenoptera, Braconidae). ZooKeys 711: 103–111.

Michael S Engel, Diying Huang, Jennifer C Thomas, Chenyang Cai. 2017.  A new genus and species of pygidicranid earwigs from the Upper Cretaceous of southern Asia (Dermaptera: Pygidicranidae). Cretaceous Research 69:  178-183.

Rust, J., Singh, H., Rana, R. S., McCann, T., Singh, L., Anderson, K., Sarkar, N., Nascimbene, P., Stebner, F., Thomas, J.C., Solórzano-Kraemer, M., Williams, C.J., Engel, M.S., Sahni, A., Grimaldi, D. 2010. Biogeographic and evolutionary implications of a diverse paleobiota in amber from the early Eocene of India. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 107(43): 18360–18365.

Thomas, J.C. 2009. A preliminary molecular investigation of aleocharine phylogeny (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 102(2): 189–195.

Williams, P.H., & J.C. Thomas. 2005. A bumblebee new to the New World: Bombus distinguendus (Hymenoptera: Apidae). The Canadian Entomologist 137(2): 158–162.

Education: 

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, Lawrence, KS:
B.S. 2003 Organismal Biology (Orley “Chip” Taylor, advisor)
M.A. 2007 Entomology (J. Steve Ashe, Edward O. Wiley, advisors)

Teaching: 

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, Lawrence, KS:
Genetics Lab (BIOL 405): 2004, 2006
Human Anatomy Lab (BIOL 241): 2005

Professional Presentations: 

An Introduction to Image Workflows and Associated Digitization Standards at SEMC, October 8, 2014, Leveraging Digitization Practices across Multiple Domains, University of California – Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California. {Invited presentation}

SEMC is back on the World Wide Web – An Introduction to the new Specify 6 Web Portal, November 9th, 2013, Entomological Collections Network, Austin, Texas.

Pre-digitization Curation, April 25, 2013, Workshop for Digitizing Dried Insect Collections, The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois.
{Invited presentation}

Entomology specimens develop dissociative identity disorder, November 10, 2012, Entomological Collections Network, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Specify 6 for Entomology Collections, November 12, 2011, Entomological Collections Network, Reno, Nevada.

Major Field Experience: 

EUROPE: Berlin, Germany (Museum für Naturkunde), 2016

NORTH AMERICA: Santa Barbara, California (Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History), October, 2014; Austin, Texas, 2013; Gainesville, Florida (University of Florida), 2013; Illinois (FIELD Museum), 2013; Tennessee 2012, Florida (FSCA, McGuire Center, FLMNH), 2012; Nevada 2011; California (LACM), 2010; Illinois (FIELD Museum, INHS), 2009; New York (AMNH), 2009, 2017; Indiana, 2006; Alaska (Anchorage Museum), 2002, 2003; Kansas, 1999–present;

SOUTH AMERICA: Corosha, Peru, 2016

OCEANIA: Aleutian Islands (Adak Is., Rat Is., Attu Is.), 2002–2003.

Professional Societies: 

Entomological Society of America
Entomological Collections Network
Kansas Entomological Society