Steve Taylor, PhD

I am a researcher at the Illinois Natural History Survey, a unit of the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability at the University of Illinois. My primary duties involve assessing aquatic invertebrates in streams throughout Illinois as a part of the statewide biological survey and assessment program. But I do a lot of research on other things, especialy cave faunas and true bugs.

Cave and karst biology, conservation, and management:
In recent years, I have conducted research in California and Mexico in collaboration with Jean Krejca, Texas (with Jean Krejca and Chris Phillips), Missouri and Arkansas (with Mike Slay), Nevada (with Jean Krejca and Mike Slay) and Illinois. Past work on cave-adapted amphipods in Illinois is in collaboration with Frank Wilhelm (University of Idaho), Ginny Adams (University of Central Arkansas) and Sam Panno (Illinois State Geological Survey). Current work on cave springtails in Illinois is in collaboration with Felipe Soto-Adames (INHS), on cave-inhabiting globular sprintails with Douglas Zeppelini (Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Brazil), on western North American millipeds with Bill Shear (Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia) and on subterranean Stygobromus amphipods in Nevada with John Holsinger (Old Dominion University, Virginia).

Biology of the Heteroptera:
I'm interested in the "True Bugs", especially Gerromorpha (Water Striders and kin), Aradidae (Flat Bugs), Reduviidae, Coreidae and aquatic groups (Nepomorpha). Some of my Heteropteran research is in collaboration with J. E. McPherson (SIUC Zoology). Recently I've been working with Paul Tinerella on several projects involving aquatic Heteroptera and Coleoptera.

Strepsiptera: I'm collaborating with Jeyaraney Kathirithamby (Oxford, UK) on several projects dealing with Strepsiptera.