Beneficial Insects in Your Backyard

Join Tennessee Valley Chapter of Wild Ones to hear Dr. Tommy McElrath present on the beneficial insects in your backyard.

Dr. McElrath is a graduate of Covenant College and the University of Georgia, where he got his PhD in naming, describing, and classifying species of beetles. He was the insect collections manager of the Illinois Natural History Survey for 8 years, where he managed a collection of over 7 million dead insects and other arthropods, as well as the people that used the collection. He loves getting photos of bugs, and has loved the misunderstood kinds of life since he was a kid in Arizona. More recently, he has returned to Chattanooga to pursue other employment opportunities and is excited to return to some of his roots in the southeastern US. He is currently an adjunct professor at Covenant College, an iNaturalist Ambassador, and a biodiversity enthusiast.