PhD
Assistant Professor
Division of Plant Science and Technology
Research at a glance
Area(s) of Expertise
Research Summary
I study parasitoid wasps, one of the most diverse yet least understood groups of animals on Earth. As a taxonomist, I discover and describe species that are new to science, and I explore why insects look the way they do, tracing how their bodies have evolved into such an astonishing variety of forms. Much of this work is rooted in natural history collections: I connect hands-on study of specimens with open, shared databases, so that this hidden variation becomes something scientists and the public can explore, understand, and help protect.
Dal Pos studies parasitoid wasps, one of the most diverse yet least understood groups of animals on Earth. As a taxonomist, he discovers and describes new species and builds global resources such as the World Ichneumonidae Database (WID) to chart their diversity. A core part of his research asks why insects look the way they do, combining detailed anatomy, imaging, and anatomical ontologies that make morphological data standardized and machine-readable across studies. This connects to his broader work in biodiversity informatics, building interrelatable, open-access databases such as the World Ichneumonidae Database (WID) and Syrphidae of Italy (SoI), and in conservation, where he draws on both natural history collections and new discoveries to ask how biodiversity is structured and how it is changing.
Dal Pos is Director of the Enns Entomology Museum at the University of Missouri, where he works to preserve and grow the collection and make it accessible as a resource for research, teaching, and the public. Although parasitoid wasps are at the core of his research, he welcomes collaborations on other insect groups that integrate taxonomy, biodiversity informatics, collections, and conservation.
Educational background
- Ph.D. in Integrative and Conservation Biology, University of Central Florida, 2025
- M.Sc. in Natural Sciences, University of Padua, 2016
- B.Sc. in Science & Technology for Nature, University of Pavia, 2013