What is your name?
Kyla O’Hearn
Where did you grow up?
Louisville, Kentucky
Previous education/schools/institutions?
University of Kentucky
What got you interested in entomology?
I started off as an animal sciences major. I ended up taking an entomology class and absolutely fell in love. I switched majors my 4th year of undergrad!
What are you working on now in the Cornell University Insect Collection?
Although my taxonomic work relies on the CUIC and many other museum collections, the thing I love most is that I do a lot of outreach events utilizing the vast number of insect specimens our collection has to offer. I’ll be running a hands on Expanding Your Horizons workshop in which students will gain an appreciation for insect diversity and curation.
What is your favorite thing about working in the collections?
My favorite thing about working in the collections is with such an extensive diversity in insects, it’s impossible to get bored. There will always be a new species that needs description or a group that needs better resolution in its classification. There will always be something that requires more exploration.
What is the most creative curatorial or field collecting technique you have used or invented?
In our lab, we use a lot of bait traps to attract the flies we target. They’re typically rotting mushroom baits and/or yellow pan traps.
Where do you see yourself in 25 years?
Hopefully in a job that is largely teaching and outreach focused in Colorado, Arizona, or the Carolinas.
What is a random factoid about you that most people do not know?
My blood type is AB-, which is the rarest blood type in the world!
If you could have a super power what would it be and what you do with it?
Teleportation, so I wouldn’t need to worry about finding funding to conduct my fieldwork in Hawaii.
