Staff at the Tulane Museum of Natural History

Research at the Tulane Museum of Natural History has traditionally centered around the freshwater and marine fishes of the Gulf-South, with emphasis on systematics and ecology of stream fishes. A variety of research projects are available for graduate students with interests in southeastern fishes. Below is a list of Museum faculty and staff, and their research interests.

Dr. Henry L. Bart, Jr. , Associate Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology. Curator of Fishes and Director of the Tulane University Museum of Natural History. Research interests include taxonomy, morphology and life history of darters, fish-habitat relations in streams and regional historical influences on stream fish diversity in the Southeast. E-mail: hank at museum.tulane.edu. More information on Dr. Hank Bart's web page.

Dr. Royal D. Suttkus, Emeritus Professor of Biology. Emeritus Curator of Fishes. Research interests include taxonomy and systematic relationships of fishes of the Gulf South.

 


Dr. Harold A. Dundee, Emeritus Professor of Biology. Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles. Research interests include relationships between tarantulas, large spiders, and frogs; natural history and distribution of Louisiana reptiles and amphibians; laws and regulations for collecting and/or sale of Louisiana native herpetofauna; and actual correct citations of literature, especially older books in biology. Dr. Dundee recently resumed work with a Latinist on the translation and annotation of Linnaeus' 10th ed.  Inquiries about the herpetology collection can be sent to dundee@museum.tulane.edu

Dr. Joseph F. Fitzpatrick, Curator of Invertebrates and Adjuct Professor of EEO Biology. The Museum of Natural History mourns the recent death of Joseph F. Fitzpatrick, Jr., world-renowned astacologist and Emeritus Professor of Biology at University of South Alabama, who served as Curator of nvertebrates from 1994-2001. His research interests centered on systematics and ecology of decapod crustaceans, especially crawfishes. The Tulane Invertebrate Collection presently lacks a curator, but is in the process of being moved to newly renovated space.

Dr. Craig S. Hood, Adjunct Curator of Mammals and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Loyola University New Orleans. Research interests include phylogenetic systematics, natural history, and ecology of mammals, especially bats. Current research focuses on use of geometric morphometrics to study geographic variation, morphological integration, and fluctuating asymmetry in Louisiana muskrats, bats, and freshwater minnows. E-mail: chood@beta.loyno.edu. Learn more about Dr Craig Hood's Research interests.

Nelson E. Rios, Manager of Collections and Informatics. Nelson is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the Museum collections, including loans, visits, budgets and staff supervision. He is also responsible the Museum's computing resources including network administration, information and database management and software development.
E-mail: nelson@museum.tulane.edu

Shwetha Belame, Bioinformatics Software Developer.
E-mail: shwetha@museum.tulane.edu


Djihbrihou Abibou, Bioinformatics Software Developer.
E-mail: djihbril@museum.tulane.edu