About

Cody Raul Cardenas (he/him) is an Entomologist starting his PhD at the Université de Genève PhD School of Life Sciences working with Dr. Emmanuel Toussaint at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle. Cody took an unusual path to higher education; previously He was an art school drop-out, welder fabricator, and van dweller. Deciding to persue his childhood fasicnation with nature Cody received his Associates degree from Columbus State University in Columbus, Ohio USA. Afterwards he received his Bachelors and Masters degree from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio USA while working with Dr. Rachelle MM Adams on the taxonomy and population genetics of a new species of fungus-growing ant Mycetomoellerius mikromelanos. Before starting his doctoral work, Cody worked at Nationwide Childrens Hospital Institude for Genomic Medicine.

Cody is primarily interested in taxonomy and systematics, however he is fascinated by evolutionary questions. His doctoral thesis will focus on the evolutionary history of Calosoma, aka “Caterpillar Hunters,” a diverse group of beetles found worldwide. Calosoma are a fascinating focal taxon because of gains and losses of flight compared to other Carabidae (ground beetles) that are almost entirely flightless. His projecet will rely on Ultra Conserved Elements (UCE’s) to infer a robust phylogeny of the genus. Through this phylogenetic framework he hopes to revise the taxonomy of the group, reconstruct the ancestral state of flight, and investigate diversification dynamics of these fascinating beetles.

Cody is looking forward to getting to know more about Switzerland and learning French while working on his Doctorate. In his free time he will be playing bike polo, hiking, and playing around with his film camera.