Skip to Main Content

INFORMATION FOR

Leonard Munstermann

PhD, MA, BA
Senior Research Scientist in Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Head Curator of Entomology (Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History)

Appointments

Biography

After graduating from the University of Minnesota Morris, a small campus in western Minnesota, he joined the Peace Corps and taught biology in a "bush school" in western Ghana as well as an exposure to the tropical insect environment. After a year at U of M, Minneapolis, and a stint in the U.S. Army, he lived in Japan for two years studying Japanese language and culture. He returned to USA to the University of Notre Dame, studying mosquito genetics, ecology and evolution. After 20 years at Notre Dame as a graduate student and research faculty, he was invited to Yale School of Medicine as a research scientist to work on the population genetics and taxonomic relationships amongst the 400 species of South American phlebotomine sand flies. Currently, he continues the sandfly work and is completing a 15-year set of education grants translating current research in medical entomology into K-12 teaching curricula.

Education & Training

  • PhD
    University of Notre Dame (1979)
  • MA
    University of Minnesota, Zoology (1968)
  • BA
    University of Minnesota, Morris, Psychology (1964)

Honors & Recognition

AwardDate
Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, University of Minnesota, Morris2004
Elected President, Connecticut Entomological Society2001
Team Research Award (with M. Braks, J. Birungi, S. Juliano, L. Lounibos, R. Lourenco de Oliveira, G. O’Meara), Florida Entomological Society2000
14th Rozeboom Lecturer in Medical Entomology, John Hopkins University1998
Published photographs of Insect Vectors of Disease in 42 newspapers, research journals and books, including Science, New York Times and Yale Medicine1979, 2007

Professional Service

OrganizationRoleDate
Connecticut Entomology SocietySociety secretary--minutes, membership2000 - 2008

Departments & Organizations