Lauren Esposito | |
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| Alma mater | University of Texas at El Paso CUNY Graduate Center |
| Known for | Scorpion research |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley California Academy of Sciences |
Lauren Esposito is the assistant curator and Schlinger chair of Arachnology at the California Academy of Sciences. She is the co-founder of the network 500 Queer Scientists.
Esposito was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. [1] She kept a collection of insects in egg cartons, and her first grade science project looked at the Mendelian genetics of pigeon colours. [1] Esposito earned her bachelor's degree in biology at the University of Texas at El Paso in 2003. [2] She became interested in scorpions during a National Science Foundation placement at the American Museum of Natural History. [1] She moved to New York for her graduate studies. [2] She completed her PhD at the CUNY Graduate Center and the American Museum of Natural History (Scorpion Systematics Research Lab) in 2011. [3] Her dissertation, "Systematics and Biogeography of the New World Scorpion Genus Centruroides Marx, 1890", considered Buthidae scorpions. [4]
In 2011 she joined University of California, Berkeley as a postdoctoral researcher working on Caribbean scorpions. [1] [5] She studied the biogeography of arachnids. [6] She joined the California Academy of Sciences in 2015, and is one of the world's only women scorpion experts. [7] [8] [9] She continued to study Buthidae scorpions at the California Academy of Sciences. [10] [11] She digitises and collects genetic information from the collected scorpion species. [7] She is also working on arthropods in salt flats in western America. [12] Her current research considers the evolution of scorpion venom and distribution of scorpions in the Caribbean. [8] She has also studied the uses of scorpion venom in the context of cancer research and medication. [13] In 2017 she discovered three new species and two new genera of club-tailed scorpions, [14] [15] [16] [17] detecting the scorpions using ultraviolet lights that excite a fluorescent dye in the scorpion armour. [3] [18] The new species were of the genus Rhopalurus. [16] Whilst surveying the Penang Hill rainforest in Malaysia, Esposito identified a new ghost scorpion. [19] [20] In 2018 she identified that Centruroidinae scorpions hiss by rubbing themselves with comb like structures. [21] [22] She told Slate magazine that her favourite fact about scorpions was that they behave like mammals and bear live young. [23] [24]
In 2014, Esposito co-founded of Islands & Seas, a non-profit that supports scientific research and education at its field station in Baja California Sur, Mexico. [10] [25] [26] [27] She leads educational programs in Baja California and at Columbia University. [28] She is the creator of 500 Queer Scientists, a network of LGBTQ+ scientists worldwide. [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] She created 500 Queer Scientists after a survey of American STEM workers identified that over 40% of LGBTQ+ scientists were not 'out' to their colleagues. [34] [35] She has appeared on Science Friday and Public Radio International. [36] [37] In February 2019 she was awarded the Walt Westman Award by the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP) as recognition for the 500 Queer Scientists initiative. [38] It is the highest national honor that NOGLSTP can award to a member, recognizing that individual's commitment to their mission. [39]
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