David Rivers

David Rivers is a professor of Biology at Loyola University Maryland, where he has taught and conducted research for the past 21 years. He trained as an insect physiologist at Ohio State University and conducted post doctoral research in molecular and cellular parasitology at the University of Wisconsin. David's research has focused on the biology and physiology of parasitic wasps that utilize manure and carrion breeding flies as hosts, and also on the behavioral and physiological interactions that occur between flies and wasps that feed on decaying animal remains. He has published over 60 articles, book chapters, reviews, and 2 books, and received grant support from the National Science Foundation, United States Department of Agriculture, Forensic Science Foundation, and U.S. Egg and Poultry Association to support his research. His interest in biting flies has developed from years of serving as a source of blood meals during fishing trips and visits to wildlife refuges and beaches in Delaware, Maryland, and Virgina. Many residents of the eastern shore of Maryland have contacted him for help with the flies, and this research endeavor is an effort to provide some relief to those individuals who endure fly attacks each year.

January 2016