about me

Leland Carl Graber, PhD

I'm an entomologist and evolutionary biologist with broad insect interests and experiences; in my career so far, I have been fortunate to study honey bees, springtails, mosquitoes, ants, and true bugs. I am interested in the origins of insect biodiversity and the evolution of adaptive traits and life histories. I am particularly interested in the evolution of insect diets, the morphological and physiological adaptations required for evolutionary diet transitions, and the role microbial symbionts play in insect diet.

I'm originally from rural South Dakota. I got my B.S. in Plant Biology with a minor in Entomology from the University of Minnesota in 2017, and was a postbac fellow at NIAID for two years before starting at Cornell. I received my PhD in Entomology from Cornell University in 2025 and I'm currently an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History. 

Email

 lgraber at amnh dot edu

Bluesky

@bug4bug.bsky.social