Dr. Lubomir Masner has made significant contributions to Hymenopteran systematics, particularly parasitic Hymenoptera. His specialization is the superfamilies Proctotrupoidea, Platygastroidea, and Ceraphronoidea, a complex of nearly 10,000 described species of important biocontrol agents and vectors of human and animal disease. He is considered the world’s preeminent expert on these groups, with more than 90 peer-reviewed publications to his name.
Masner received his M.S. (1957) from Charles University, Czechoslovakia, and his Ph.D. (1962) in entomology from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. In 1964, he accepted a postdoctoral position with Agriculture Canada, and more than 30 years later, he retired to serve as honorary research associate with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. In addition to his research, he also was curator in the Hymenoptera section of the Canadian National Collection of Insects, and built that collection into a world-class resource on hymenoptera biodiversity.
Recipient of the Entomological Society of Canada’s Gold Medal (1999), Masner has been named an external research associate for the American Museum of Natural History, Florida State Collection of Arthropods, and Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He has been an external collaborator with the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Costa Rica, and a research fellow with CSIRO, New Zealand’s Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science.
(updated September, 2005)