Prof. Gal Ribak is a curator of Coleoptera at the Steinhardt Museum and a Associate Professor in the School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University. He studied at the Technion – Israel’s Institute of Technology, Haifa, and received his PhD degree in 2005. Gal grew up in Haifa loving animals and nature, and hence chose to become a zoologist. His research involves the biomechanics and functional morphology of insect locomotion with a focus on insect flight. The Museum collections are an invaluable resource for his studies, granting immediate access to three million insect specimens that represent the immense diversity of insects in Israel and around the world. His main discoveries provide an understanding of how morphology, physiology and sensory input allow insects to control their trajectory and orientation during aerial locomotion. His current research focuses on insect flight evolution, energetics, aerodynamics and control mechanisms, with an emphasis on large flying beetles. Gal has published more than 30 scientific papers on the biomechanics of animal locomotion.