Information about this site, and the Laboratory of Entomology and Biodiversity

About This Site


Retirement

The Laboratory of Entomology and Biodiversity at Georgetown University has been closed down due to the retirement of Dr. Edward Barrows. Dr. Barrows was a professor at GU from 1975 until his recent retirement in the 2020s. After Dr. Barrows retirement, the Observatory was cleaned out and is undergoing renovations. This webpage is no longer updated and is an archive of the work we did during late 90s and early 2000s, the beginning of the World Wide Web. The BDWA was one of the first online databases of ecological specimens, images, and information. - DSK 2025

The site

Dan Kjar and Edd Barrows started constructing the current form of the BDWA in February of 2001. Its primary aim is to provide images of and information about organisms with an emphasis on those in the Washington, D.C., Area. The Website's format enables easy searching to find organisms of interest and taxon lists.

We are using Cold Fusion (a server and language used to interface between an ODBC database and the Internet) to maintain a database of nearly unlimited size, and provide instant access to the information and images (that we gather while conducting our research) to anyone with Internet access.

Why?

There might be over 40,000 organism species in the Washington, D.C., Area, defined as the area within 100 miles of our Capital. Areas such as Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, Great Falls, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay all contain vast numbers of interesting species, and very different ecosystems, many of which may vanish from this area due to climatic change and human disturbance.

What is next?

As resources allow, we and others in the Laboratory of Entomology and Biodiversity will add information to this site in the forthcoming years. We would be pleased to receive appropriate contributions of digital photographs, identifications, corrections, and other information and research donations from you. We will indicate your contributions on this site. Please contact us. barrowse@georgetown.edu

May I use these images?

We are pleased to show you the biodiversity of the Washington D.C., Area, and we would also like proper written recognition for the images on this site. They are the result of the work of members of our lab and community. Further, they are the property of the Laboratory of Entomology and Biodiversity, Georgetown University, etc. We request that these images remain only on our Webpage, that is, not appear on other Internet sites. For your further use and enjoyment of our images in other media, please contact us about obtaining original copies (which are larger and have better resolution). We would also be pleased to sell photos to commercial groups to help support our research. All images are copyrighted by Georgetown University. Use in any format without permission is prohibited.

For information about how to link to images on our webpages, please email dsk@georgetown.edu.

For permission to use these images, please email us at barrowse@georgetown.edu.

Follow this link for more information on the Georgetown University Copyright.

update template