Dr. Timothy Polnaszek is an Assistant Professor at Belmont Abbey College. Previously, he worked at MacMurray College and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Arizona within the Center for Insect Science. Dr. Polnaszek obtained his BS in Zoology from North Dakota State University and his PhD from the University of Minnesota where he conducted research on animal behavior, including on animal decision making in woodchucks, blue jays, bumble bees, crickets and other animals. He has presented this research at national and international conferences, as well as published journal articles on wildlife and animal behavior. He now studies animals and plants on a small forest plot in Gastonia, NC that he calls home, as an ongoing research collaboration with his wife and six children.