Dr. Barbara Sharanowski is the curator of UCFC and associate professor in the UCF Department of Biology. She is passionately interested in the understanding of the phylogeneitic and evolutionary history of Hymenoptera, particularly Braconidae. Her research integrates collection-based taxonomy, molecular phylogenetics, and genomic information to elucidate evolutionary patterns and process and describe biodiversity in parasitic Hymenoptera. She strives to understand interactions between genotype and phenotype and how these characters shape patterns of diversification within Hymenoptera.She also examines parasitic Hymenoptera in agroecosystems and is currently developing innovative taxonomic and genomic tools, including mobile applications to facilitate sustainable agriculture practices and biodiversity discovery. She is also deeply interested in genome evolution in insects, particularly in non-coding DNA and polydnaviruses associated with parasitic wasps. Finally, her previous research has focused on forensic entomology, particularly with respect to insect succession for estimating elapsed time since death intervals, an interest she intends to explore further through National Center for Forensic Science at UCF. Click here to visit her website.