Brian D. Farrell is Professor of Biology in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, and Curator of Entomology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. He has collaborated with Los Niños de Leonardo y Meredith in the Dominican Republic to teach children about native insects, and participates in an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory of the Boston Harbor Islands national park area. His research focuses on the interplay of adaption and historical contingency in species diversification, particularly beetles.