POSITIONS
2013 – present Research Associate, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Currently working on a Cooperative Agreement between USDA and UI as a postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Suarez. The project goal is to develop new features, broaden the taxonomic and geographic scope, and continue content development of Antkey.org. Antkey is a digital identification tool for the identification of the world’s invasive, introduced and commonly intercepted ant species. Project website | http//:www.antkey.org.
2013 – present Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA. Currently collaborating with Dr. Brian Fisher (CAS) on development of Antweb.org and Ants of Asia: A Guide to the Genera for UC Press.
2010 – 2012 Research Associate, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Encyclopedia of Life (EOL.org) Rubenstein Fellow. Worked on a Cooperative Agreement between USDA and UI as a postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Suarez. Designed and deployed the first version of Antkey.org.
EDUCATION
University of California at Davis, Davis, CA
Ph.D., Entomology, June 2009 (NSF Graduate Research Fellow). Thesis: “The Ants of Fiji: systematics, biogeography and conservation of an island arc fauna.” Major Advisor: Dr. Phil S. Ward
M.S., Entomology, June 2003.
University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
B.S., Conservation and Resource Studies, Entomology emphasis, May 2000.
Additional Training
USDA-CPHST Workshop, Ft. Collins, Colorado. Developing Lucid identification tools (Sept., 2008).
California Academy of Sciences Ant Course at Portal, Arizona (July, 2003).
Duke University, Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica. Semester abroad program (Spring, 2003).
PUBLICATIONS
Monographs
Sarnat, EM & EP Economo (2012) The ants of Fiji. University of California Press Publication in Entomology 132: iii-viii; 1-384. [pdf]
Research Publications
Sarnat EM, Fischer G, Guénard B, Economo EP (2015) Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109.doi: 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 [pdf]
Economo, EP, EM Sarnat, M Janda, R Clouse, P Klimov, G Fischer, BD Blanchard, LN Ramirez, A Andersen, M Berman, B Guénard, A Lucky, C Rabeling, EO Wilson, LL Knowles (2015) Breaking out of biogeographic modules: range expansion and taxon cycles in Indo-Pacific Pheidole. Journal of Biogeography 42: 2289-2301. doi: 10.1111/jbi.12592 [pdf]
Hita Garcia F, EM Sarnat, EP Economo (2015) Revision of the ant genus Proceratium Roger (Hymenoptera, Proceratiinae) in Fiji. ZooKeys 475: 97-112. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.475.8761 [pdf]
Economo EP, K Pavel, EM Sarnat, B Guenard, M Weiser, B Lecroq & LL Knowles (2015) Global phylogenetic structure of a hyperdiverse radiation reveals the convergent evolution of macroecological patterns. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 1798: 1-10. [pdf]
Clouse RM, M Janda, B Blanchard, P Sharma, BD Hoffman, AN Anderson, JE Czekanski-Moir, P Krushelnycky, C Rabeling, EP Economo, EM Sarnat, CW Ward (2014) Molecular phylogeny of a widespread ant group reveals waves of dispersal and colonization into and out of the Pacific. Cladistics. (Online early version). [pdf]
Sarnat EM, C Rabeling, EP Economo & EO Wilson (2014) First record of a species from the New World Pheidole flavens-complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) introduced to the southwestern Pacific. Bioinvasions Records 3: 301-307. [pdf]
Sarnat EM, Economo EP (2013) Pristomyrmex tsujii sp. n. and P. mandibularis Mann (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Fiji. ZooKeys 340: 43-61. [pdf]
Sarnat, EM, Blanchard, B Guénard, JB Fasi, & EP Economo (2013) Checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the Solomon Islands and a new survey of Makira Island. Zookeys, 257: 47-88. [pdf]
Sarnat, EM & AV Suarez. 2012. Antkey. University of Illinois and Identification Technology Program, CPHST, PPQ, APHIS, USDA. <http://www.antkey.org>
Economo, EP & EM Sarnat (2012) Revisiting the ants of Melanesia and the taxon cycle: historical and human-mediated invasions of a tropical archipelago. American Naturalist, 180, E1-E16. (Presidential award from ASN for best paper of 2012 in Am. Nat.) [pdf]
Sarnat, EM (2011) Ant identification in cyberspace: tools, applications and challenges. American Entomologist, 57, 227-230. [pdf]
Lucky, A, EM Sarnat & LE Alonso (2011) Survey of the ants of the Muller Range of Papua New Guinea. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60: 45-53.
Lucky, A, K Sagata & EM Sarnat (2011) Survey of the ants of the Nakanai Mountains of East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60: 158-157.
Sarnat, EM & CS Moreau (2011) Biogeography and morphological evolution of a Pacific island ant radiation. Molecular Ecology 20:114-130. [pdf]
Lucky, A & EM Sarnat (2010) Biogeography and diversification of the Pacific ant genus Lordomyrma Emery. Journal of Biogeography 37: 624-634. [pdf]
Sarnat, EM (Dec. 4th, 2008) PIAkey: Identification guide to invasive ants of the Pacific Islands, Edition 2.0, Lucid v. 3.4. USDA/APHIS/PPQ Center for Plant Health Science and Technology and University of California — Davis. [www.piakey.com]
Sarnat, EM (2008) A taxonomic revision of the Pheidole roosevelti-group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Fiji. Zootaxa 1767:1-36. [pdf]
Sarnat, EM (2008) Fire ant workshop and surveillance final technical report. Wildlife Conservation Society, Suva, Fiji. 33 p. plus appendices. [pdf]
Lucky, A & EM Sarnat (2007) New species of Lordomyrma (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Southeast Asia and Fiji. Zootaxa 1681: 37-46. [pdf]
Evenhuis, NL, EM Sarnat, M Tokota`a (2007) A new genus and species of sciarid ant guest from Fiji (Diptera: Sciaridae). In: Evenhuis, N.L. & Bickel, D.J. (eds.), Fiji Arthropods. IX. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 94: 3-10.
Sarnat, EM (2006) Lordomyrma (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Fiji Islands. In: Evenhuis, N.L. & Bickel, D.J. (eds.), Fiji Arthropods. IX.Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 90: 9-42. [pdf]
Sarr, D, D Odion, B Truitt, E Beever, S Shafer, A Duff, S Smith, W Bunn, J Rocchio, E Sarnat, J Alexander & S Jessup (2004) Vital Signs Monitoring Plan for the Klamath Network: Phase I Report. Klamath Network-National Park Service, Ashland, OR. 96 p. plus appendices.
Suarez, AV, M Benard, N.D. Tsutsui, TA Blackledge, K Copren, EM Sarnat, AL Wild, WM Getz, PT Starks, K Will, PJ Palsbøll, ME Hauber, C Moritz & AD Richman (2002) Correspondence: Conflicts around a study of Mexican crops. Nature 417:897.
FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS & AWARDS
Fellowships
2011 Encyclopedia of Life Rubenstein Fellowship | One year of funding to support cybertaxonomy work on Antkey.org, Antweb.org and EOL.org
2003 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship | Three years of funding for dissertation work on “The Ants of Fiji: systematics, biogeography and conservation of an island arc fauna.”
Grants
2013 USDA-APHIS-MRPBS Cooperative Agreement | One year of funding to continue development of the Antkey.org website.
2012 National Science Foundation (NSF) DEB 1141989 | (Senior Personnel) Two years of funding to support “Evolving hyperdiversity in phenotypic, ecological, and geographic networks: testing the taxon cycle and alternatives in Indo-Pacific Pheidole” in collaboration with Dr. Evan Economo and Dr. Lacey Knowles.
2010 USDA-APHIS-MRPBS Cooperative Agreement | Two years of funding to develop Antkey.org website.
2007 USDA-APHIS-MRPBS Cooperative Agreement | One year of funding to support development of Identification guide to invasive ants of the Pacific Islands website (www.PIAkey.com).
2007 Biosecurity New Zealand Research Grant
2007 UC Davis Jastro Shields Research Award
2006 UC Davis Jastro Shields Research Award
2005 Pacific Rim Research Program Minigrant
2005 Ernst Mayr Grant, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
2008 UC Davis Graduate Studies NSF GRF matching grant ($25,000)
2002 UC Davis McBeth Memorial Scholarship
2002 UC Davis Center for Biosystematics Graduate Research Grant
2002 UC Davis Jastro Shields Research Award ($2,000)
1999 Organization for Tropical Studies, Conservation Biology Fund
1999 UC Berkeley Educational Minigrant
Awards
2012 2012 Presidential Award from American Society of Naturalists (Best paper published in The American Naturalist in 2012)
2002 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Honorable mention
SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS
Sarnat, EM (2013) Web-based approaches for the identification of invasive ant species. 2nd International Congress on Biological Invasions, Qingdao, China. (Oral Paper, co-organized Can we keep RIFA out of Asia? symposium).
Sarnat, EM (2012) Web-based resources for Pacific Ants. Pacific Ant Summit, Cambridge, Massachusetts, (Oral Paper, meeting co-organizer).
Sarnat, EM (2011) Ant identification in cyberspace: tools, applications, and challenges. Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting, Reno, Nevada (Oral Paper).
Sarnat, EM (2011) PIAKEY: Interactive Identification Guide to Invasive Ants of the Pacific Islands. Entomological Society of America Pacific Branch Annual Meeting, Waikoloa, Hawaii (Oral Paper).
Sarnat, EM (2010) Modern tools for invasive ant identification. International Invasive Ant Management Workshop, Darwin, Australia (Oral Paper).
A Lucky & EM Sarnat (2010) Biogeography and diversification of Pacific island ants. Social Insect Meetings (International Union for the Study of Social Insects), Copenhagen, Denmark (Poster).
Encyclopedia of Life/Biodiversity Synthesis Center Workshop: Global Ant Project Synthesis Meeting II. Oral presentation, “Ant ID with Lucid keys” (November 2009, Chicago, IL).
Encyclopedia of Life/Biodiversity Synthesis Center Workshop: Melanesian Biogeography. Co-coordinator (August 2009, Suva, Fiji).
A Lucky & EM Sarnat (2009) Biogeography and diversification of the Pacific ant genus Lordomyrma Emery. Entomological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting (Oral Paper).
Sarnat, EM & CS Moreau (2008) Systematics, biogeography and conservation of the Pheidole roosevelti group [Hymenoptera: Formicidae] in Fiji. Entomological Society of America Meeting, Reno, Nevada (Oral Paper).
Sarnat, EM (2007) Making taxonomy fun: an interactive guide to Pacific invasive ants. Entomological Society of Pacific Branch Meeting, Reno, Nevada (Oral Paper).
A Lucky & EM Sarnat (2007) Origins of the Fijian Lordomyrma. Entomological Society of Pacific Branch Meeting, Reno, Nevada (Poster).
Sarnat, EM (2007) PIAkey: a tool for identifying Pacific invasive ants. International Pacific Invasive Ant Meeting, Kona, Hawaii (Oral Paper).
Sarnat, EM (2007) The ants of Fiji: Systematics, biogeography and conservation of an island arc fauna. Pacific Entomology Conference, Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI (Oral Paper).
SCIENTIFIC EMPLOYMENT
Antwork Consulting, LLC, Founder & Manager. 2012–present. Cybertaxonomy business specializing in physical and digital curation of insect collections, design and maintenance of online biodiversity databases, and the design and deployment of biodiversity websites. Clients include Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (Japan), University of Florida, Kadoorie Farm & Botanical Garden (Hong Kong), CAB International.
Conservation International Rapid Assessment Program (Papua New Guinea), Specimen curator. 2009–2010, 2013.
Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. Research assistant. Supervisor: Susan Cobey. 2008.
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Fiji. Expert scientist. Funded by Oceans, Environment, and Science Initiatives (OESI) Program of the United States Embassy (Fiji). 2006–2008.
Fiji Terrestrial Arthropod Survey. Field manager. Funded by NSF grant DEB-0425970, coordinated by WCS and the Bishop Museum (Hawaii). Supervisors: Dr. Neal Evenhuis and Dr. David Olson. 2005.
National Park Service, Inventory and Monitoring Program, Klamath Network. Program assistant. Supervisor: Daniel Sarr. 2003.
Lake Tahoe Biodiversity Project. Contract scientist. Funded by National Forest Service, coordinated by University of Nevada, Reno. 2004.
UC Davis Department of Entomology, Research assistant. Supervisor: Dr. Phil Ward. 2001.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Classroom and Field
2014 (Invited) California Academy of Sciences “Ant Course” Maliau Basin Field Centre, Sabah Borneo.
2007 Davis Experimental College, Instructor. 559-1, “Backyard Beekeeping.”
2003 U. C. Davis, Teaching Assistant. ENT/EVE 02, “Biodiversity.”
2002 U. C. Davis, Teaching Assistant. EVE 101, “Introduction to Ecology.”
2000 U. C. Berkeley, Instructor. ESPM 198, “Natural Treasures of the Bay Area.”
Workshops
Workshop coordinator. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Fire Ant Workshop & Surveillance, Nausori, Fiji (2 July, 2007).
Workshop coordinator. WCS Fire Ant Workshop & Surveillance, Suva, Fiji (3 July, 2007).
Workshop coordinator. Pacific Invasive Ants Identification Training Workshop, Suva, Fiji (26–28 June, 2007).
Workshop coordinator. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Fire Ant Workshop & Surveillance, Lautoka, Fiji (15–16 February, 2007).
Mentoring
Supervised three work-study undergraduates. University of California, Davis (2006–2009).
Supervised five parataxonomists and two USP graduate students in insect and spider collection, curation and identification for the Fiji Arthropod Survey (supported in part by NSF grant DEB-0425790 and the Schlinger Foundation), Colo-i-suva, Fiji.
MUSEUM COLLECTIONS EXPERIENCE
Employment
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., Contract curator. Supervisors: Dr. David Furth and Dr. Ted Schultz (2000).
UC Berkeley Essig Museum of Entomology, Assistant to collection manager. Supervisor: Cheryl Barr (1997–2000).
Research
Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA
British Museum of Natural History, London, United Kingdom
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA
Essig Museum of Entomology, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Natural History Museum of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
United States National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, USA
ORGANIZATIONAL PARTICIPATION
International Union for the Study of Social Insects, symposium co-organizer (2014)
International Congress on Biological Invasion, member of Scientific Committee (2013)
Conservation International, member (2007-present)
Entomological Society for America, member (2005-present)
Union of Concerned Scientists, member (2002-present)
Wildlife Conservation Society, member (2004-present)
White Oak Farm & Education Center, president (2003-2009), secretary (2010-present)
Xerces Society, member (2004-present)
Bay Area Ant Meeting, Northern CA (2005-2009)
Bay Area Biosystematists (2002-2009)
Department of Entomology Committees, UC Davis (2005-2009)
INTERNATIONAL FIELD EXPERIENCE
Fiji (2003-2008). Collected specimens from hundreds of localities across 12 islands, coordinated and lead five expeditions for visiting international scientists, trained and managed Fijian parataxonomists.
Solomon Islands (2008). Biodiversity survey of Makira and parts of Guadalcanal.
Papua New Guinea (2003). Biodiversity survey of three Provinces. Worked in conjunction with local NGO’s and villages.
New Caledonia (2003). Biodiversity survey with several colleagues.
Costa Rica (1999). Semester abroad program spent conducting field research experiments and collecting specimens.
CYBERTAXONOMY EXPERIENCE
Antwork Consulting, LLC (cybertaxonomy business) | Founder and manager (2012–present).Antkey (http://www.antkey.org) | Designer and administrator (2012–present).
Scratchpads Ambassador (http://www.scratchpads.eu) | Scratchpads is an online virtual research environment for biodiversity administered by the British Natural History Museum, London (2012–present).
Pacific Invasive Ant Key (PIAkey) (http://itp.lucidcentral.org/id/ant/pia/) designer and administrator (2009–present).
Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) Rubenstein Fellow | Integrated data sharing among EOL.org, Antweb.org and Antkey.org (2012).
Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) Curator of Formicidae | Contributed to 125 species pages (2011–present).
Curator of Introduced Ants on Antweb (http://www.antweb.org/page.do?name=introduced) (2011–present).
Curator of Port of Entry Ants on Antweb (http://www.antweb.org/page.do?name=poe) (2011–present).
Curator of Port of Solomon Island Ants on Antweb (http://www.antweb.org/page.do?name=solomons) (2012–present).
Curator of Port of Fiji Ants on Antweb (http://www.antweb.org/page.do?name=fiji) (2010–present).
Skills
Biodiversity informatics, Lucid key development, Scratchpad-2 design and management, scientific illustration, graphic design, website design and management, pest ant identification, beekeeping and queen rearing.