Christopher Laumer

Background: I am a young biologist pursuing my Ph.D. at Harvard University in the field of invertebrate systematics. My research is concerned with the tiny (45 um to 3 mm), mega-diverse aquatic animals that occur among benthic sediments and vegetation throughout the world, and I hope to spend my career furthering our knowledge of these Lilliputian beasts. I am particularly interested in the freshwater representatives of this fauna, especially the flatworms. My thesis research centers on a remarkable but problematic group called the Prorhynchidae: cosmopolitan, predatory groundwater-dwellers and terrestrial worms of uncertain evolutionary position. I am combining classical microscopic and field studies with genetic work to create a more or less "natural" classification of these animals, and to answer questions about their dispersal capabilities.