Graduate Studies

Graduate Studies

Updated October 2025

This list of arachnologists who specialize on various aspects of the biology of arachnids is part of our continuing effort to promote and develop the field of arachnology. Students interested in pursuing graduate degrees in a particular area of research should explore the research being conducted by professors whose expertise overlaps their own interests. Students should become familiar with the research of a professor before contacting that person directly about the possibility of joining a lab. Faculty and graduate sponsors who would like to be included on the list should email webmaster@americanarachnology.org with their professional URL. Please note that the primary purpose of this list is to provide a service to the academic community; the AAS makes neither recommendations nor endorsements of persons or organizations listed.

You can also view sponsors by their area of research:

 

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF GRADUATE STUDIES SPONSORS
Ingi Agnarsson: http://www.theridiidae.com/ingi-agnarsson.html
Maydianne Andrade: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/labs/andrade/
Leticia Aviles: https://biodiversity.ubc.ca/people/leticia-aviles
Todd Blackledge: https://www.uakron.edu/biology/faculty-staff/detail.dot?identity=1116136
Jason Bond:https://caes.ucdavis.edu/people/jason-bond-0 and https://entomology.ucdavis.edu/people/jason-bond
Christopher Brown: https://www.tntech.edu/directory/cas/biology/christopher-brown.php
Mercedes Burns: https://burnslab.umbc.edu
Paula Cushing: https://www.dmns.org/science/zoology/staff/paula-cushing/
Anne Danielson Francois: http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~danfranc/
Michael Draney: https://www.uwgb.edu/biology/faculty-staff/draneym/
Damian Elias: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/damian-elias
Lauren Esposito: https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/lauren-esposito
Matthias Foellmer: http://www.adelphi.edu/faculty/profiles/profile.php?PID=0436
Kasey Fowler-Finn: https://www.fowlerfinnlab.com/
Oscar Francke: http://www.ibiologia.unam.mx/html/Site_2/Curador.html
Doug Gaffin: https://scorpionlab.douglasgaffin.com/
Jessica Garb: https://www.uml.edu/Sciences/biology/faculty/garb-jessica.aspx
Rosemary Gillespie: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/rosemary-gillespie
Gonzalo Giribet: https://oeb.harvard.edu/people/gonzalo-giribet
Cheryl Hayashi: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/cheryl-y.-hayashi/
Eileen Hebets: https://hebetslab.unl.edu/
Marshal Hedin: https://marshalhedinlab.com/
Gustavo Hormiga: https://biology.columbian.gwu.edu/gustavo-hormiga
Thomas Jones: https://www.etsu.edu/cas/biology/facultystaff/jonestc.php
Glauco Machado: https://ecologia.ib.usp.br/opilio/main.html
Wayne Maddison: https://biodiversity.ubc.ca/people/faculty/wayne-maddison
Susan Masta: http://web.pdx.edu/~smasta/
Alfredo Peretti: http://cordoba.academia.edu/AlfredoPeretti
Fernando Pérez-Miles: http://education.academia.edu/FernandoP%C3%A9rezmiles
Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha: http://www.ib.usp.br/pt/dep-zoologia/corpo-docente/455-prof-dr-ricardo-pinto-da-rocha.html
Lorenzo Prendini: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/lorenzo-prendini/
Heather Proctor: http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/faculty/heather_proctor// and https://hproctorlabuofa.blog/
Andrew Roberts: https://u.osu.edu/robertslab/people/dr-roberts-cv/
Cara Shillington: http://www.emich.edu/biology/faculty/shillington.php
Jeff Shultz: http://jwshultz.weebly.com
Deborah Smith: https://eeb.ku.edu/people/deborah-smith
Shawn Wilder: http://integrativebiology.okstate.edu/news/zoology-news/8-people/faculty/325-shawn-wilder
Rodrigo Willemart: http://each.uspnet.usp.br/willemart/?lang=en
Hannah Wood: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/staff/hannah-wood

 

GRADUATE STUDIES SPONSORS BY RESEARCH AREA

Systematics/Taxonomy
Ingi Agnarsson: http://www.theridiidae.com/ingi-agnarsson.html
Jason Bond: https://caes.ucdavis.edu/people/jason-bond-0 and https://entomology.ucdavis.edu/people/jason-bond
Mercedes Burns: https://burnslab.umbc.edu
Paula Cushing: https://www.dmns.org/science/zoology/staff/paula-cushing/
Lauren Esposito: https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/lauren-esposito
Oscar Francke: http://www.ibiologia.unam.mx/html/Site_2/Curador.html
Gonzalo Giribet: https://oeb.harvard.edu/people/gonzalo-giribet
Marshal Hedin: https://marshalhedinlab.com/
Gustavo Hormiga: https://biology.columbian.gwu.edu/gustavo-hormiga
Wayne Maddison: https://biodiversity.ubc.ca/people/faculty/wayne-maddison
Susan Masta: http://web.pdx.edu/~smasta/
Fernando Pérez-Miles: http://education.academia.edu/FernandoP%C3%A9rezmiles
Lorenzo Prendini: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/lorenzo-prendini/
Jeff Shultz: http://jwshultz.weebly.com

Morphology, Physiology, Silk and Venom Evolution
Todd Blackledge: https://www.uakron.edu/biology/faculty-staff/detail.dot?identity=1116136
Doug Gaffin: https://scorpionlab.douglasgaffin.com/
Jessica Garb: https://www.uml.edu/Sciences/biology/faculty/garb-jessica.aspx
Cheryl Hayashi: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/cheryl-y.-hayashi/
Alfredo Peretti: http://cordoba.academia.edu/AlfredoPeretti
Lorenzo Prendini: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/lorenzo-prendini/
Cara Shillington: http://www.emich.edu/biology/faculty/shillington.php
Jeff Shultz: http://entomology.umd.edu/shultz-jeffrey-w.html
Hannah Wood: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/staff/hannah-wood

Ecology, Biodiversity, and Biogeography
Michael Draney: https://www.uwgb.edu/biology/faculty-staff/draneym/
Lauren Esposito: https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/lauren-esposito
Matthias Foellmer: http://www.adelphi.edu/faculty/profiles/profile.php?PID=0436
Rosemary Gillespie: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/rosemary-gillespie
Lorenzo Prendini: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/lorenzo-prendini/
Shawn Wilder: http://integrativebiology.okstate.edu/news/zoology-news/8-people/faculty/325-shawn-wilder

Behavior & Life History
Leticia Aviles: https://biodiversity.ubc.ca/people/leticia-aviles
Christopher Brown: https://www.tntech.edu/directory/cas/biology/christopher-brown.php
Mercedes Burns: https://burnslab.umbc.edu
Anne Danielson Francois: http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~danfranc/
Damian Elias: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/damian-elias
Kasey Fowler-Finn: https://www.fowlerfinnlab.com/
Eileen Hebets: https://hebetslab.unl.edu/
Thomas Jones: https://www.etsu.edu/cas/biology/facultystaff/jonestc.php
Glauco Machado: https://ecologia.ib.usp.br/opilio/main.html
Andrew Roberts: https://u.osu.edu/robertslab/people/dr-roberts-cv/
Jeff Shultz: http://jwshultz.weebly.com
Deborah Smith: https://eeb.ku.edu/people/deborah-smith
Rodrigo Willemart: http://each.uspnet.usp.br/willemart/?lang=en

Acarina
Heather Proctor: http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/faculty/heather_proctor// and https://hproctorlabuofa.blog/

Amblypygi
Eileen Hebets: http://biosci.unl.edu/eileen-hebets
Lorenzo Prendini: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/lorenzo-prendini/

Opiliones
Mercedes Burns: https://burnslab.umbc.edu
Gonzalo Giribet: https://oeb.harvard.edu/people/gonzalo-giribet
Marshal Hedin: https://marshalhedinlab.com/
Glauco Machado: https://ecologia.ib.usp.br/opilio/main.html
Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha: http://www.ib.usp.br/pt/dep-zoologia/corpo-docente/455-prof-dr-ricardo-pinto-da-rocha.html
Jeff Shultz: http://entomology.umd.edu/shultz-jeffrey-w.html
Rodrigo Willemart: http://each.uspnet.usp.br/willemart/?lang=en

Scorpiones
Christopher Brown: https://www.tntech.edu/directory/cas/biology/christopher-brown.php
Lauren Esposito: https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/lauren-esposito
Oscar Francke: http://www.ibiologia.unam.mx/html/Site_2/Curador.html
Doug Gaffin: https://scorpionlab.douglasgaffin.com/
Lorenzo Prendini: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/lorenzo-prendini/

Solifugae
Paula Cushing: https://www.dmns.org/science/zoology/staff/paula-cushing/
Lorenzo Prendini: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/lorenzo-prendini/
Rodrigo Willemart: each.uspnet.usp.br/willemart/

Various Arachnida/general
Alfredo Peretti: http://cordoba.academia.edu/AlfredoPeretti
Marshal Hedin: https://marshalhedinlab.com/
Lorenzo Prendini: https://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/lorenzo-prendini/