Michael S. Engel

Michael S. Engel is Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Senior Curator of Entomology at the University of Kansas. He is a leading researcher in the field of insect paleontology and evolutionary biology. He received his B.Sc. in Physiology and Cell Biology and B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Kansas (1993) and Ph.D. (1998) in Entomology from Cornell University. After a two-year appointment as Research Scientist at the American Museum of Natural History, where he worked on the fossil history of bees preserved in amber, he joined the faculty at the University of Kansas.

Dr. Engel’s research spans the full spectrum of insect evolutionary history—from the earliest evidence of their origins nearly 410 million years ago, to the modern global fauna. He is considered a particular authority on the orders Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and other wasps), Isoptera (termites), and Neuropterida (lacewings and their relatives), with over 300 publications on these and other insect lineages. He is co-author of the acclaimed Evolution of the Insects (2005), and recipient of the Charles Schuchert Award (2008) of the Paleontological Society and the Bicentenary Medal (2009) of the Linnean Society of London. In addition, he has received a William T. Kemper Fellowship (2006) from the University of Kansas for his significant role in graduate education and mentorship.

He lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with his wife, Kellie K. Magill.