Sam Wells

My blogs

Blogs I follow

About me

Introduction I have been fascinated with small creatures for as long as I remember. At the age of five (I think), I discovering earwigs and sow bugs at the edge of our lawn in Salt Lake City (rumor has it that I ate some of them). Some years later my sister gave me the insect collection she had made for school and I started collecting in earnest. At Orem High School I was fortunate to come under the influence of a remarkable biology teacher (during the early 80’s) who showed me how to properly care for and collect insects. He also introduced me to some of the faculty at BYU with whom I began traveling throughout the western US, Mexico and Canada in search of interesting creatures. Eventually I earned two degrees from BYU and a Ph.D. from Colorado State University (as well as one-year post-doc also at CSU). In my professional career I have traveled to many parts of the world looking for safe and effective ways to control insect pests. And in my spare time I continue to work on my taxonomic interests, that include finding and naming undescribed species, documenting regional faunas and helping others identify beetles.