ENHG Lecture March 2: "Seeker of Dark Places" – Beetles belonging to the Family Tenebrionidae, with Dr. Brigitte Howard

Note: the lecture will be given over Zoom, and a link emailed to all those registered prior to the event. You are welcome to log in as of 7:00 pm for a half hour of casual talk with your fellow members. The lecture will begin at 7:30. 

About the Talk: It is almost impossible to go on a field excursion and not see at least one species of the beetles belonging to the the Tenebrionidae, commonly known as darkling beetles. By no means am I an expert in this beetle group, however, I have studied insect diversity of terrestrial desert environments for some years now, of which darkling beetles form a large part. During this talk I will first introduce how darkling beetles fit into the overall beetle order, some specific ways to tell them apart from other beetles, focus on some of the key species found in the UAE, and discuss some aspects of their ecology.

About the Speaker: Dr. Brigitte Howarth (Associate Professor) is an ecologist with extensive experience in desert ecology. Her first degree was in Applied Ecology (BSc (Hons)), and her PhD was in ecological entomology. Over the past few years at Zayed University (Dubai, UAE) she has shared her time between the Center for Educational Innovation (CEI) and her home unit, which was within the College of Natural and Health Sciences, Department of Life and Environmental Science. In that department, she was an Associate Professor, delivering courses in biology and ecology. Much of her teaching was dominated by teaching methods that would bring the classroom to life, and as such she has always been a keen advocate of facilitated learning and skills sets that build habits of mind, developing life-long learning. Her role at ZU has prepared her well for her new challenge as Director of Institutional Effectiveness at the American University in Dubai, which she joined in January of this year.

With more than 21 years spent in the UAE, Brigitte has a good understanding of the local species biodiversity, and researches the insects of the various terrestrial habitats. Her interests have expanded to researching how land use change and development are impacting species biodiversity in the UAE. Her PhD studies into Batesian Mimicry remains a research focus; she is currently working on the development of an immunological technique to establish if antibodies to bee and wasp venom can be detected.