Title: Flies, flies everywhere, but why should we care?
Dr Bryan Lessard (a.k.a. Bry the Fly Guy) discovered the curious world of flies as an undergraduate student at the University of Wollongong, learning about maggots and their
uses in solving crime. During his PhD at the Australian National University, he described more than 18 new fly species, reconstructed the first Australian horse fly (Tabanidae) phylogeny using DNA sequences and timed the global radiation of the Gondwanan
fauna using the fossil record. In 2011, he named a horse fly with a golden abdomen Plinthina
beyonceae after the performer Beyoncé, which quickly became a bootylicious ambassador for biodiversity and sparked a global conversation about the importance of flies and the work of taxonomy. Bryan now works as a Postdoctoral Fellow
at CSIRO’s Australian National Insect Collection, researching the evolution and classification of soldier flies (Stratiomyidae), most famous for the black soldier fly Hermetia
illucens that powers compost bins and could become the superfood of the 21st century.
Bryan also shares his passion for flies and biodiversity with the world through social media, speaking events and the written word. In 2016 he was an invited speaker at TEDxCanberra. Please come and watch Bryan speak about his passion for entomology and challenge
your perception of the humble fly.
