Before his current role as Assistant Professor of Biology at Dalton State College in Dalton, Georgia, Alex earned his PhD in entomology at the University of Florida and Florida A&M University in 2023. Prior to his PhD, Alex received his Bachelor of Science in Biology with Honors and his Master of Science in Biology from the University of Central Florida. Alex has authored 35 peer-reviewed publications to date, of which he is sole author or first author of 25. He is active in several professional societies and enjoys serving on the executive board of the Center for Systematic Entomology. Though especially interested in caddisfly (Trichoptera) systematics and taxonomy, Alex has broad interests and experience in entomology, natural history, taxonomy, systematics, ecology, evolutionary biology, and invasion biology of a wide range of taxa, but especially aquatic insects and fishes, as well as science education.