left to right:  Kevin Johnson, Dale Clayton, Roger Price, R.J.Adams,
Devin Drown and Brett Moyer (photo taken in 1999; the year PIPeR was established)
(yes, we know he's holding a tick, not a louse:  try finding a louse that size)

The Department of Biology at the University of Utah is home to the Price Institue for Phthirapteran Research (PIPeR). The centerpiece of PIPeR is a collection of 1,180 species of slide-mounted lice, representing nearly two thirds of the 301 recognized genera, making it the fourth most diverse collection in North America (in top 10 worldwide). The collection is invaluable because of the consistent quality of its specimens, most of which were prepared by Dr. Roger Price, a leading authority on Phthirapteran systematics. PIPeR houses an image analysis system consisting of a Nikon Eclipse E600 DIC microscope with a video camera connected to a G3/400 PowerMac. This facility, in conjunction with the Department of Biology's SEM unit, allows for rapid semiautomated recording of morphometric data at a variety of scales. PIPeR has facilities for remounting slides and preparing new slide-mounts. It houses perhaps the largest frozen Phthiraptera tissue collection in the world, consisting of 6,000+ specimens from 200+ host species (and growing fast). PIPeR also has a molecular lab with full capabilities for DNA extraction, PCR, and the preparation of material for the University of Utah's central automated sequencing facility. PIPeR will serve as a base for research and training in Phthiapteran systematics well into the new century.

Specimen Database for PIPer (.xls file)