Michael S. Engel, FLS, FRES (born September 24, 1971) is an American

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

and

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

, notable for contributions to insect evolutionary biology and classification. In connection with his studies he has undertaken field expeditions in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, eastern Africa, the high Arctic, and South and North America, and has published more than 925 papers in

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

s. Some of Engel's research images were included in exhibitions on the aesthetic value of scientific imagery.

Career

Engel received a B.Sc. in physiology and cell biology and a B.A. in chemistry from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

in 1993, and a Ph.D. in entomology from Cornell University in 1998. He was employed as a research scientist at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

from 1998 to 2000, and then returned to the University of Kansas as assistant professor in the Department of Entomology, assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and assistant curator in the Natural History Museum's Division of Entomology. He was promoted to full professor and senior curator in 2008, and University Distinguished Professor in 2018. In 2006–2007 Engel resumed regular activity in the American Museum of Natural History while a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

, completing work on the geological history of termites and their influence on carbon recycling in paleoenvironments. This period also permitted significant work on the comprehensive work, ''Treatise on the Termites of the World''. In 2008 he received the

Charles Schuchert Award The Charles Schuchert Award is presented by the Paleontological Society to a person under 40 whose work reflects excellence and promise in the science of paleontology. The award was made in honor of Charles Schuchert (1858 – 1942), an Americ ...

of the

Paleontological Society The Paleontological Society, formerly the Paleontological Society of America, is an international organisation devoted to the promotion of paleontology. The Society was founded in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was incorporated in April 1968 in ...

and subsequently the Bicentenary Medal of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

(2009) for his contributions to the fields of systematic entomology and paleontology. In Spring 2014 he was awarded the Scholarly Achievement Award of the University of Kansas for his contributions to the evolutionary and developmental origins of insect flight; and in 2015 the International Cooperation Award from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2017, Engel was elected as a Fellow of the

Entomological Society of America The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, ...

and received the society's Thomas Say Award. In Spring 2019, ''Innumerable Insects'' won a Silver Award in the Nautilus Book Award. In October 2022, Engel was elected as a Fellow of AAAS. The standard author abbreviation M.S.Engel is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a paleobotanical name.

Personal life

Engel married Kellie K. Magill on April 25, 2009, in a ceremony performed by Engel's father.

Eponymy

The following species or genera have been proposed in honor of Dr. Engel, ( denotes extinct taxa): * ''Anotylus engeli'' Makranczy, 2011 (an oxyteline rove beetle from Bolivia) * † ''Archaeoellipes engeli'' Heads, 2010 (a pygmy mole cricket from

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

Dominican Amber Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree '' Hymenaea protera''. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil in ...

) * †''Archaeoserphites engeli'' Rasnitsyn & Ohm-Kuhnle, 2020 (an archaeoserphitid wasp in

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. Th ...

) * †''Archaeovespa engeli'' Wu, Shih, Ren, & Gao, 2021 (a vespid wasp in Kachin amber) * † ''Archeofoenus engeli'' Turrisi & Ellenberger, 2019 (an aulacid wasp from Cretaceous Burmese amber) * ''Braunsapis engeli'' Jobiraj, 2004 (a small allodapine bee from southern India) * †''Chlorepyris engeli'' Colombo & Azevedo, 2021 (a flat wasp in Baltic amber) * † ''Cretogramma engeli'' Liu et al., 2018 (a kalligrammatid lacewing from Cretaceous Burmese amber) * † ''Cretopiesma engelgrimaldii'' Azar, Heiss, & Huang, 2020 (a flat bug from Cretaceous Burmese amber) * † ''Cretoquadratus engeli'' Chen, 2019 (a ship-timber beetles from Cretaceous Burmese amber) * ''Cretostylops engeli'' Grimaldi & Kathirithamby, 2005 (the oldest fossil

Strepsiptera The Strepsiptera () are an order of insects with eleven extant families that include about 600 described species. They are endoparasites of other insects, such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, Zygentoma, silverfish, and cockroaches. Females of most s ...

, from Burmese amber) * † ''Deltoxyela engeli'' Wang, Shih, Ren, & Gao, 2020 (a sawfly from Cretaceous Burmese amber) * † ''Dolichoraphidia engeli'' Liu ''& al.'', 2016 (a snakefly from Cretaceous Burmese amber) * † ''Elmomantis engeli'' Prokop et al., 2017 (a miomopteran from the Permian of Kansas) * ''Engelitermes'' Romero Arias, Roisin, & Scheffrahn, 2023 (a genus of

Termitidae Termitidae is the largest family of termites consisting of 2,125 described species of which are commonly known as the higher termites. They are evolutionarily the most specialised termite group, with their highly compartmentalized hindgut lackin ...

from Cameroon) * Engelitermitinae Romero Arias, Roisin, & Scheffrahn, 2023 (a subfamily of

from Cameroon) * † ''Engellestes'' Nel ''& al.'', 2012 (a genus of damselfly-like odonates from the Permian of Russia) * ''Eufriesea engeli'' Gonzalez & Griswold, 2017 (an

orchid bee The tribe Euglossini, in the subfamily Apinae, commonly known as orchid bees or euglossine bees, are the only group of corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess eusocial behavior. Description, distribution, and behavior ...

from Mexico) * † ''Kronocharon engeli'' Wunderlich, 2015 (a whipspider from Cretaceous Burmese amber) * ''Lasioglossum engeli'' Genaro, 2001 (a halictine bee from Cuba) * ''Melitta engeli'' Michez, 2012 (a melittine bee from Kyrgyzstan) * † ''Mesophthirus engeli'' Gao, Shih, Rasnitsyn, & Ren, 2019 (a coccoid crawler from Cretaceous Burmese amber) * †''Mesoserphites engeli'' Herbert & McKellar, 2022 (a serphitid wasp in Burmese amber) * †''Milesitermes engeli'' Jouault & Nel, 2021 (a termite in Burmese amber) * † ''Sigmophlebia engeli'' Béthoux & Beckemeyer, 2007 (a protorthopteran from the

Early Permian 01 or 01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * '01 (Richard Müller album), ''01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * 01 (Urban Zakapa album), ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''01011 ...

of Oklahoma) * ''Sphecodes engeli'' Astafurova & Proshchalykin, 2020 (a cuckoo bee from Laos) * ''Triepeolus engeli'' Rightmyer, 2008 (an epeoline bee from Texas) * † ''Vostox engeli'' Estrada-Álvarez & Núñez-Bazán, 2023 (a spongiphorine

earwig Earwigs make up the insect order (biology), order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cercus, cerci, a pair of forceps-like pincer (biology), pincers on ...

in Mexican amber) * † ''Xenosycorax engeli'' Azar & Salamé, 2015 (a psychodid fly in

New Jersey amber New Jersey Amber, sometimes called Raritan amber, is amber found in the Raritan Formation, Raritan and Magothy Formations of the Mid-Atlantic states, Central Atlantic (Eastern) coast of the United States. It is dated to the Late Cretaceous, Turoni ...

)

Publications

Books

*''Evolution of the Insects'' (Cambridge Evolution Series), co-authored with David Grimaldi, 2005. *''Innumerable Insects: The Story of the Most Diverse and Myriad Animals on Earth'' (Natural Histories), 2018.

References

External links

Dr. Michael Engel faculty members'page
at The University of Kansas, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.
Michael S. Engel bio as Fellow
John Simon Guggenheim Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Engel, Michael S 1971 births Living people People from St. Louis County, Missouri American paleontologists American entomologists Hymenopterists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni American evolutionary biologists American naturalists 21st-century American zoologists University of Kansas alumni University of Kansas faculty United Church of Christ members People associated with the American Museum of Natural History Fellows of the Entomological Society of America Nautilus Book Award winners