Alwen Myfanwy Evans was LSTM’s first female lecturer in Entomology. 

Through her work she gained a world-wide reputation and was held in high esteem in a then male-dominated area of work.

Alwen began her work at LSTM in 1918 with the study of tsetse flies but went on to specialise in tropical insects, in particular anophelines, the types of mosquito which spread malaria. Through this, and her work at the British Museum, she quickly became a recognised expert on African anophelines.

In 1921, she was promoted to lecturer in Entomology and in 1928 she obtained her Doctorate from the University of Manchester for her thesis A Short Illustrated Guide to the Anophelines of Tropical and South Africa. She embarked upon expeditions to Sierra Leone and Kenya, and advised entomologists all over the world.

Dr Evans completed her famous work The Mosquitoes of the Ethiopian Region, in 1937. She died of pneumonia on 8th August, only two weeks after completing her famous work.