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(GIF Credit: Mariapoda https://www.tumblr.com/mariapoda)
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Robin P. Marquez is an Assistant Curator of Entomology and recent graduate of the University of Central Florida (UCF), investigating insect biodiversity and systematics.
During Robin's undergraduate career, he was awarded UCF's highest student award for his research, leadership, and community contributions. He was also nationally recognized as a Goldwater Scholar and the only undergraduate to receive the 2025 Entomological Society of America Alate Award.
Throughout his academic and professional roles, Robin aims to use his skills in public science communication to improve the inclusion and accessibility of entomology education, outreach, and mentoring.
Robin's previous experience includes:
During Robin's undergraduate career, he was awarded UCF's highest student award for his research, leadership, and community contributions. He was also nationally recognized as a Goldwater Scholar and the only undergraduate to receive the 2025 Entomological Society of America Alate Award.
Throughout his academic and professional roles, Robin aims to use his skills in public science communication to improve the inclusion and accessibility of entomology education, outreach, and mentoring.
Robin's previous experience includes:
- Interdisciplinary Evolutionary Sciences Research Experience for Undergraduates REU: Taxonomic revision of cryptic species of gall wasp parasitoids in genus Ormyrus through combination of DNA barcoding and traditional morphological taxonomic work (faculty mentor Dr. Andrew Forbes)
- Smithsonian Natural History Research Experiences REU : Biodiversity of micro-parasitoid Hymenoptera in Central and South America (mentors Dr. Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo, Research Entomologist; Dr. R. Luke Kresslein, Postdoctoral Fellow; and Dr. Matt Buffington, Research Entomologist).
- University of Michigan Summer Research Opportunity Program (U-M SROP): Effects of herbicide (dicamba) drift on morning glory (Ipomoea) populations and arthropod communities (faculty mentor Dr. Regina Baucom, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology).
- University of Central Florida Conservation, Restoration, and Communication REU: Effects of compost on plants and pollinators in suburban native plant landscape designs (research mentor Dr. Patrick Bohlen, Dept. of Biology; current Director of University of Wisconsin Arboretum).
- University of Central Florida: Effects of agrochemical pendimethalin on mosquito immune systems and capacity for disease transmission (faculty mentor Dr. Ken Fedorka, Dept. of Biology).
- Yale University and University of New Hampshire: Climate change and pathogenic Vibrio bacteria in the gut microbiome of mottled ducks (faculty mentor Dr. Andrea Ayala, University of New Hampshire; and co-PI Dr. C. Brandon Ogbunu, Yale Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology).
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Robin (bottom) at National Museum of Natural History (NHRE REU) with research mentors, from top left to right: Dr. Robert L. Kresslein, Dr. Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo, and Dr. Matt Buffington. (Photo by Phillip R. Lee, Smithsonian Institution)
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Robin (right) leading tours of sustainable landscaping research plots for 2023 OUTSIDE: Sustainable Landscaping Collaborative Conference in St. Cloud, Florida (Photo Credit: OUTSIDE Collab)
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Robin (right) presenting research poster at a University of Central Florida Poster Showcase (Summer 2022)
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Robin conducting entomology outreach and education for the 2024 Partial Solar Eclipse and Earth Day Celebration at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida
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Robin earned an Undergraduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Studies from the University of Central Florida. He completed the following independent projects to strengthen his proficiency in spatial analyses involving GBIF data.