John Abbott grew up in Texas, falling in love at an early age with insects and natural history in general. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of North Texas in 1999 with a study of the dragonflies and damselflies of the south-central U.S. He took a faculty position at the University of Texas at Austin where he also served as the Curator of Entomology until 2013. At UT, John taught General Entomology and Aquatic Entomology and he has lead student groups to such exotic locals as Costa Rica, Honduras, the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii and Mexico. His research focuses on aquatic insects, particularly the systematics and biogeography of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata). John has authored many papers on aquatic insects and written eight books on odonates including the just published Dragonflies of Texas. Since July of 2013, John has been at St. Edward’s University as the Director of the Wild Basin Creative Research Center. John is creator of several different Citizen Science based web sites including OdonataCentral, the Migratory Dragonfly Partnership, and Pond Watch. John also sits on the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) Odonata Specialists Group. Beyond these interests, John and his wife Kendra are avid nature photographers who own and operate Abbott Nature Photography. Their photographs have appeared in numerous calendars, magazines and books. John and Kendra are also currently working on the Peterson Field Guide to North American Insects and a book on the Common Insects of Texas.