Jessica Ware is a Canadian-American evolutionary biologist and entomologist. Born in 1977, she is known for her work on the evolution of insect physiology and behavior, particularly dragonflies (Odonata) and Dictyoptera (cockroaches, termites, and mantises), as well as their biogeography. Ware is also known for her efforts to promote diversity in the field of entomology.
Currently, Jessica Ware is Curator and Chair of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City. She is also a principal investigator at the Institute for Comparative Genomics and a professor at the Richard Gilder Graduate School. Ware is currently president of the Society of Systematic Biologists. Recently, Ware was involved in the planning of the new Gilder Hall at the AMNH, working to communicate facts and the beauty of insects. She is also working on a project involving the genetic sequencing of 1000 species of dragonflies and studying the evolution of wings in cockroaches.
Ware's notable achievements include receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2019 and being named a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences in 2022. She also received the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in 2015. Ware co-founded Entomologists of Color and co-organized #BlackInEnto week in February 2021. In recognition of her contributions to the field, a graduate student named a newly discovered cockroach in Guyana after her, Dasyblatta warei.
