Armin Moczek is an internationally recognized expert on evolutionary developmental biology who studies the mechanisms that facilitate the evolutionary origin of complex traits using insects as model systems, such as the extravagant horns found in beetles or the bioluminescent organs found in fireflies. Since joining the IU faculty in 2004, he has been the primary or co-primary investigator on more than $4.5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Eli Lilly Foundation, U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation and IU.
An advocate for science education and outreach, Moczek co-directs the Jim Holland Summer Science Research Program and the Jim Holland Summer Enrichment Program, recently secured funding for the upcoming Research Initiative in STEM Education at IU Bloomington, and develops K-12 curriculum in collaboration with the IU Bloomington School of Education and the WonderLab Museum in Bloomington, Indiana.