Dr Ben Price

Dr Ben Price

Senior Curator in Charge, small orders

Department: Life Sciences
Division: LS Insects Division
Specialisms: Odonata, Trichoptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Megaloptera, Neuroptera, Raphidioptera, Mecoptera, Embioptera,Cicadidae

Summary

I'm a Principal Curator in the Insects Division and the Senior Curator in Charge of the "Small Orders" section, which includes an estimated 4 million hexapod specimens. I am directly responsible for the Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata.

I have over 20 years experience with African and European terrestrial and freshwater invertebrates. My research focuses on the application of DNA-based methods (from amplicon to whole genome sequencing) on both modern and historical vouchers , bulk samples and environmental DNA samples, to accelerate biodiversity discovery and the monitoring of habitat quality.

I am a co-investigator and Executive Board member for the €20 million Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE) project, where I lead the €2 million DNA sequencing work package genome skimming 33,000 museum samples, barcoding 12,000 fresh samples and metabarcoding 5,000 bulk and eDNA samples.

I am the coordinator of the national UK Barcode of Life project (UKBOL), generating a “gold standard” DNA reference library from modern and historical voucher specimens through barcoding and genome skimming. I am a member of the arthropod working group within the Darwin Tree of Life (DTOL) generating “gold standard” genomes for all 75,000 UK species. I am on the steering group of the UKDNA working group, a government agency led working group developing methods and standards for DNA monitoring in the UK.

Qualifications

Degrees

  • PhD, Rhodes University, South Africa, 2006 - 2010
  • BSc Honours, Rhodes University, South Africa, 2005 - 2005
  • BSc, Rhodes University, South Africa, 2002 - 2004

Employment history

Academic

  • Curator, Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2013 - ongoing
  • NSF Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Connecticut, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, United States, 2011 - 2013
  • SABI Post Doctoral Fellow, Albany Museum, South Africa, 2010 - 2011

Highlighted publications

  • Pereira‐da‐Conceicoa L, Elbrecht V, Hall A, Briscoe A, Barber‐James H, Price B (2021) Metabarcoding unsorted kick‐samples facilitates macroinvertebrate‐based biomonitoring with increased taxonomic resolution, while outperforming environmental DNA. Environmental DNA, (2) Wiley : 353 - 371. doi: 10.1002/edn3.116
  • DOW RA, PRICE BW (2020) A review of Megalogomphus sumatranus (Krüger, 1899) and its allies in Sundaland with a description of a new species from Borneo (Odonata: Anisoptera: Gomphidae). Zootaxa, (4) Magnolia Press : zootaxa.4845.4.2 - null. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4845.4.2
  • Dupont S, Humphries J, Butcher A, Baker E, Balcells L, Price B (2020) Ahead of the curve: three approaches to mass digitisation of vials with a focus on label data capture. Research Ideas and Outcomes, Pensoft Publishersdoi: 10.3897/rio.6.e53606
  • Price B, Briscoe A, Misra R, Broad G (2020) Evaluation of DNA barcode libraries used in the UK and developing an action plan to fill priority gaps. : null - null.
  • Wonglersak R, Fenberg PB, Langdon PG, Brooks SJ, Price BW (2020) Temperature‐body size responses in insects: a case study of British Odonata. Ecological Entomology, (4) Wiley : 795 - 805. doi: 10.1111/een.12853
  • Baker E, Price BW, Rycroft SD, Hill J, Smith VS (2015) BioAcoustica: a free and open repository and analysis platform for bioacoustics. Database, Oxford University Press (OUP)doi: 10.1093/database/bav054
  • Dupont S, Price B, Blagoderov V (2015) IMp: The customizable LEGO® Pinned Insect Manipulator. ZooKeys, (481) Pensoft Publishers : 131 - 138. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.481.8788

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