The use of forensic entomology to raise awareness of entomology with students and the public

In 2019, I started at Kean University, in NJ, as an assistant professor in the biology department, where I was also responsible of starting a research laboratory. Soon though, the pandemic hit and campus shut down; this, however, allowed me to strategize for when the reopening. Currently, I am working on several fronts to conquer the interest of the students and the public towards entomology. I am part of the Executive Board of the New Jersey Academy of Science (NJAS), where I am starting a section dedicated to entomology, open to high-school, undergraduate/graduate students, and professionals; seminars, training and networking opportunities will arise from this and contribute to the growth of entomology in NJ. Also, I have designed special topic entomology classes for bio and non-bio majors, involving our sustainability program; recently, we acquired a large field-station where we are organizing entomology bio-blitz, events and hands-on courses. For research, I have mixed forensic entomology with other sub-areas. I am running research on insect succession on different carcasses, along with microbial, fungal and VOCs analyses, to correlate arthropods with the other variables. Also, we are working on the use of eDNA to detect necrophagous insects; this will expand on the entomological biodiversity of NJ and may also have applications in forensics. Finally, I train law enforcement (Police and FBI) in the collection of entomological evidence. This has been useful from a forensic standpoint and indirectly has made our law enforcement more curious and sensitive towards insects in general.