Associate Professor Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona
The unique biology of locusts place them in the middle of complex social-ecological-technological systems. Defining and understanding each component of the system and their linkages is critical for overcoming challenges in locust research, response, and resilience. However, historical silos between disciplines and organizations from different regions and sectors can create barriers to advancing a systems approach. In this talk, I share results from an ongoing NSF project looking at how nutrition affects locust migration and reproduction, and how their capacity to migrate en masse links people through space and time. I briefly review historic and current outbreak occurence and publication records and topics, then make a case for expanding social science research in entomology and share preliminary results from stakeholder workshops.
