(1) Revisionary systematics of native and introduced Hawaiian Carabidae. The endemic fauna comprises over 367 species, principally arrayed in two independent, monophyletic radiations; the genera Blackburnia (133 species; Liebherr & Zimmerman 2000, Liebherr 2001, 2003, 2006, Liebherr & Short 2006) and Mecyclothorax (200 species; Liebherr 2005, submitted). I am currently engaged in laboratory work to characterize the 25 Mecyclothorax species from the Big Island of Hawaii. I recently finished revising the 23 native species of Bembidion, a third smaller radiation that exhibits extensive coevolved specializations in male and female genitalia. Distributions of endemic species in all of these groups define areas of endemism critical for conservation. (2) Native carabid beetles of the Society Islands. I have conducted field work as the basis for describing carabid biodiversity in the Society Islands, including the first survey of carabids from Moorea. The Society Islands’ fauna can be fruitfully compared to that of H

My teaching focuses on the immature or larvae stages of holometabolous insects which comprise over 90% of insect diversity. I also co-teach historical biogeography, a fundamental subdiscipline of systematic biology.