We are delighted to announce that Dr. Nico M. Franz will lead the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum as its new Director starting this August.
Dr. Franz is currently Professor of Ecology and Director of Biocollections in the School Life Sciences at Arizona State University where he is the principal investigator of the U.S. National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Biorepository and U.S. iDigBio Symbiota Support Hub.
Nico is an evolutionary biologist and insect systematist who specializes in the megadiverse plant-feeding lineage of weevils. His current research program focuses on developing innovative biocollections infrastructure and biodiversity data science services.
We look forward to the possibilities for a shared vision and synergies between the Symbiota and Specify collections informatics initiatives.