Duane McKenna is a beetle specialist who has been working closely with the 1Kite Program for the past year, studying the genome sequence of the common insect.
The 1Kite Program works with specialized experts to study insects and dig deeper into their evolutionary process. The goal is to get enough research to create a deeper understanding of the species and answer any questions that people may have about them.
McKenna explained how he got involved with the 1Kite Program.
“I got involved with the 1Kite Program to contribute expertise on beetles,” McKenna said. “When I got involved in studying genomes, I sequenced a genome of a beetle. A genome is the closest relative to the beetle. At that point very few people had been sequencing genomes.”
McKenna is an evolutionary biologist and entomologist, and a professor at the University of Memphis. He has spent time in the tropics, Central America, South America and South Africa, studying insects. His passion for studying insects began at an early age and carries on into his adult career.
“I was always curious about the natural world and history,” McKenna said. “I didn’t have an academic interest in it until I went to college. It was really when I was an undergrad that I got to be excited about biology.”
A graduate of Western Michigan University, McKenna then went on to the University of Illinois to get his master’s degree. Following the University of Illinois, McKenna got his doctorate and post doctorate at Harvard University.
“It is a cool thing to come to work and love what I do,” McKenna said. “I have had this interest for most of my life.”
McKenna believes that he is here to clear up any misconceptions people have about insects.
“People think bugs are a nuisance,” McKenna said. “They perform so many services that they are not always appreciated. The bites or strings are just a small fraction. Some are extremely important as pollenates.”
McKenna said his goal is to understand insect evolution by understanding their genomic sequence. He hopes to understand the relationships and origins of a variety of different types of insects.
“Insects are a smaller majority but they are highly important,” McKenna said. “While so many people are fascinated with polar bears and whales, the world would not look different without them. If you lost beetles you would see a dramatic collapse. If you lost insects you would lose plants that feed off of them.”
