Patrick Favre
An unconventional path: Patrick Favre began his career by studying electronics, while developing a growing interest in nature. Eager to better understand living organisms and to have a positive impact on his environment, he taught himself chemistry and biology in order to gain admission to college. It was through nature photography and citizen science platforms that he subsequently discovered the world of insects.
From curiosity to expertise: The diversity of insects and the lack of specialists for certain groups quickly became a driving force for him. Discovering the book Symphytes d’Europe marked a turning point: he realized that in Switzerland, this group of wasps—comprising some 700 species—was largely neglected. He then visited the Naturéum’s collections for the first time to study the preserved specimens. Subsequently, his civil service assignment at the Natural History Museum of Fribourg allowed him to gain more hands-on experience with collection work and led him to his current position.
Exploring the Forgotten: In the Naturéum’s collections, Patrick Favre, a specialist in Hymenoptera, draws on both historical specimens and recently acquired material to better document the least well-known groups of wasps. Since 2023, he has been identifying specimens, participating in the digitization of the collections, and contributing to research projects. He also enriches the collections with material from his own fieldwork or external projects, helping to incorporate more than 10,000 recent specimens.
Since 2024, in addition to his work at the Naturéum, he has been pursuing a master’s degree in animal ecology and conservation at the University of Bern and is conducting a project on Darwin’s wasps. His goal is to better document the diversity of these insects by focusing on the least-studied regions of Switzerland. His efforts have already led to the discovery of several new species.