Insects, bugs, pests, whatever you may call them, and whether you love or hate them, they are vital to our planet and by extension to us humans. They provide important ecosystem services by recycling dead things, by pollinating our food crops, by planting seeds, and even just by being food for other creatures, like birds.
In this program, we take a deep dive into the remarkable world of insects, to learn about their history, what they do and the pretty amazing ways in which they do it. Our guest is Dr. Scott Solomon, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Rice University.
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Dr. Scott Solomon is a biologist, professor, and science communicator. He teaches ecology, evolutionary biology, and scientific communication as an Associate Teaching Professor at Rice University in Houston. Dr. Solomon is also a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History.
He has a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Texas at Austin where his research examined the evolutionary basis of biological diversity in the Amazon Basin. He has taught field biology at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado and in the rainforests and reefs of Belize. He developed a series of online introductory biology courses through Coursera as well as two complete digital series with The Great Courses called Why Insects Matter: Earth’s Most Essential Species and What Darwin Didn’t Know: The Modern Science of Evolution. Before coming to Rice, he worked as a visiting researcher with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and São Paulo State University in Rio Claro, Brazil.
Dr. Solomon’s research examines the ecology and evolution of insects, microbes, and humans. He is a Fellow of The Explorers Club, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Tropical Ecology, and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society, and the Society for the Study of Evolution.
He is currently working on a popular science book for MIT Press about how living in space will affect the human body and mind. Despite what the Internet may say, Dr. Solomon hasn’t (yet) played in the NFL.
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Since it began in 2015, Mothering Earth has been bringing listeners informative programs on a broad range of environmental and sustainable living topics .
