Download Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae
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Norman Benjamin Barr
February 28, 1975
United States of America
APHIS-USDA
Moore Air Base, Bldg. S-6414
22675 N. Moorefield Rd.
Edinburg, TX 78541
(956) 580-7301
(956) 580-7300
Norman.B.Barr@aphis.usda.gov
Objective: To serve as an IPPC author for diagnostic protocols regarding identification of
immature stages of fruit flies of economic importance by molecular techniques.
Professional Work History
Molecular Biologist, October 2005-present
USDA-APHIS, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology (CPHST)
PDDML, 22675 N. Moorefield Rd, Bldg. S-6414
Moore Air Force Base, Edinburg, TX 78504
Projects:
 Development of molecular diagnostic tools for gastropod pests using DNA barcodes
 Development/improvement of population genetic methods for geographic source
estimation of fruit fly pests Ceratitis capitata and Bactrocera species.
 Development of molecular identification tools for Epiphyas postivittana in California
 Development of DNA barcode tools for identification of tephritid pests in the subfamily
Dacinae
Post-Doctoral Research Associate, October 2004-October 2005
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Department of Entomology
Projects:
 Development and evaluation of nuclear genes as systematic markers in flies; Assembling
the tree of life (AToL) of flies (Diptera)
Academic History
Doctor of Philosophy, Genetics, December 2004
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA,
Thesis: Molecular diagnostics and systematics of the genus Ceratitis (Tephritidae)
Master of Science, Entomology, December 2001
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA,
Thesis: Sequence analysis of the period gene in the genus Anastrepha (Tephritidae)
Bachelor of Science, Biology, May 1998
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Honor’s paper: raised Drosophila: Identification of an associative learning mutant.
Professional Experience
Member of the Steering Committee for the Tephritid Barcoding Initiative (TBI), Royal Museum
of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium, 27-28 April 2006. The TBI is a research program
to develop a DNA barcode demonstrator system solicited by the Consortium for the
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Barcode of Life (CBoL). The committee comprises ten international tephritid systematics
experts and is chaired by Dr. Bruce McPheron.
Reviewer for scientific journals (2004-present)
 Insect Molecular Biology
 Insect Science and its Application, The International Journal of Tropical Insect Science
 Annals of the Entomological Society of America
 Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
 Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
 Journal of Economic Entomology
 Evolution
Participant in modules on Interpreting DNA Evidence and Population Genetic Data Analysis,
Summer Institute in Statistical Genetics, May-June 2002, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, NC
Awards
 U.S.D.A. Certificate of Appreciation for work on molecular diagnostics of slugs of
economic importance. December 2006.
 U.S.D.A. Certificate of Appreciation for assessment of past and needed molecular
analysis for gastropods. April 2006.
 The Vartkes Miroyn Memorial Award for research, Penn State University, Fall 2003
 Tuition and Travel Scholarship to attend 2002 Summer Institute in Statistical Genetics at
North Carolina State University: grants from National Institutes of Health and the
National Science Foundation.
 Funds for Enhancement of Graduate Recruiting, stipend supplement from College of
Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, 2000-2003.
 Graham Fellowship, Pennsylvania State University, 2000-2002.
 Charles Hodge IV Prize in Biology, Temple University, May 1998.
 Howard Hughes Research Fellowship, Temple University, May 1997-May 1998
 Howard Hughes Research Fellowship, Temple University, May 1996-August 1996.
 Temple University President’s Scholar, May 1998.
 Distinction in Biology, Temple University, Biol. Dept. Research Program, April 1998.
Publications
Barr, N.B., Copeland, R.S., De Meyer, M., Masiga, D., Kibogo, H.G., Billah, M.K, Osir, E.,
Wharton, R.A., and McPheron B.A. 2006. Molecular diagnostics of economically important fruit
fly species (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Africa using PCR and RFLP analyses. Bulletin of
Entomological Research 96: 505-521.
Barr, N.B. and McPheron, B.A. 2006. Molecular phylogenetics of the genus Ceratitis (Diptera:
Tephritidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 38: 216-230.
Barr, N.B., Cui, L., and McPheron, B.A. 2005. Molecular systematics of the nuclear gene period
in the genus Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America
98: 173-180.
McRobert, S.P., Tompkins, L., Barr, N.B., Bradner, J., Lucas, D., Rattigan, D.M., and Tannous,
A.F. 2003. Mutations in raised Drosophila melanogaster affect experience-dependent aspects of
sexual behavior in both sexes. Behavior Genetics, 33 (3): 347-356.
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Selected Presentations
Barr, N., Cook, A., Elder, P., Molongoski, Prasher, D., and Robinson, D. Application of a 16S
rDNA barcode to diagnose pest Arion species in the U.S.A. 2007 World Congress of Malacology
sponsored by the International Congress of Unitas Malacologica and the American Malacological
Society, Antwerp, Belgium (July 2007)
Barr, N., McPheron, B., Erbout, N., and De Meyer, M. Molecular Phylogenetics of the Genus
Ceratitis (Tephritidae). 7th International Symposium on Fruit Flies of Economic Importance and
the 6th Working Group on Fruit Flies of the Western Hemisphere, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
(September 2006) Invited Speaker
Barr, N.B., Copeland, R.S., De Meyer, M., Masiga, D., Kibogo, H.G., Billah, M.K, Osir, E.,
Wharton, R.A., and McPheron B.A. Molecular Diagnostics of the Genus Ceratitis (Tephritidae)
using PCR and RFLP Analyses. 7th International Symposium on Fruit Flies of Economic
Importance and the 6th Working Group on Fruit Flies of the Western Hemisphere, Slavador,
Bahia, Brazil. (September 2006)
De Meyer, M., Barr, N., Copeland, R.S., Erbout, N., Freidberg, A., Hancock, D.L. and White,
I.M. 2006. Recent developments in the systematics of African Ceratitidina and Dacina (Diptera,
Tephritidae, Dacini). 6th International Congress of Dipterology, Fukuoka, Japan. (September
2006)
Kim, J., Barr , N., Cassel, B., and B. M. Wiegmann. 2006. FLYTREE MOLECULES: The first
tier phylogeny of Diptera using multiple nuclear genes. 6th International Congress of Dipterology,
Fukuoka, Japan. (September 2006)
Barr, N., McPheron, B., and Wiegmann, B. 2005. Phylogenetic Utility of the period locus in
Diptera. The 53rd Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America. Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, U.S.A. (December 2005)
Giudici, M., Wiegmann, B., Barr, N., Weilgenbach, J., and Kennedy, G. Phenology of the apple
maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella (Diptera: Tephritidae), in the Southern Appalachians: A
molecular study. The 53rd Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America. Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A. (December 2005)
Barr, N. Molecular diagnosis of the Medfly, Ceratitis capitata, and other Afrotropical fruit flies
(Tephritidae). Pest Detection, Diagnostic, and Management Laboratory, CPHST, USDA-APHIS.
Edinburg, Texas, U.S.A. (July 2005)
Barr, N. Molecular diagnostics and systematics of the genus Ceratitis (Diptera: Tephritidae).
Seminar for the Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North
Carolina, U.S.A. (January 2005).
Barr, N. Phylogenetics of the Genus Ceratitis (Diptera: Tephritidae) based on mtDNA and the
period gene. Seminar for the Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics (IMEG), Penn State
University, University Park, PA, U.S.A. (November 2003)
Barr, N. Analysis of the period gene in tephritid fruit flies. Colloquium for the Intercollege
Program in Genetics, Penn State University, University Park, PA, U.S.A. (October 2002)
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