I am originally from Akron, Ohio. My undergraduate degree was in biology, from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. My Masters and Ph.D. degrees were in zoology, at The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
My doctoral dissertation concerned isolating and characterizing several isozymes of an antibacterial enzyme, lysozyme, from frog tissues. I also worked with frog embryos and am therefore something of a developmental biologist. I eventually tired of trying to hold onto slippery amphibians and returned to a boyhood interest in insects. I have developed several very large Web resources to help people find images of the approximately 12,000 North American moth species, both in published books and on the Web. I have also developed a comprehensive checklist and database for the moth species of South Carolina. And I have taken on the curation and enlargement of Furman's insect collection.
Reflecting my focus on butterflies and moths, I am a member of The Lepidopterists' Society (an international organization) and The Southern Lepidopterists' Society.
My wife, Judy, taught mathematics for 28 years. Since 2007, she has been Director of a county-wide program called Graduate Greenville. We are parents of three, Phil (teaching music at LaGrange College and married to Cori Pelletier (certified music therapist), Ben (currently teaching exercise physiology and related topics at Shenandoah University and married to Stacie (a Registered Nurse also certified in cardiac rehabilitation), and Erin Shelor (teaching history at Millersville University). Erin's husband, Derik, works as a free-lance editor and owns a small regional publishing house, Shelor & Son Publishing. Their 7-year-old son, Jonathan, is keeping them both very busy, as is their two-year-old daughter Elizabeth.
Phil is a co-founder and member of The Georgia Guitar Quartet, which has produced several CDs and which can be booked for concerts nationwide. Contact the Quartet at www.georgiaguitarquartet.com.
I live in Greenville, which is near the Appalachian region of South Carolina.