Apr 14, 2025

Grozinger appointed to National Academies committee to study insect declines in North America

Huck Institutes director Christina Grozinger has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on the Status of Insects in North America.

Huck Director Christina Grozinger

Insects provide critical services to support food production and healthy ecosystems. For example, bees and flies are essential pollinators for fruit, vegetable, and tree nut crops, while others help decomposition and nutrient cycling. Insects are also the base of terrestrial food webs, which means they are important for other animal populations, such as birds.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently appointed an 18 member study committee to examine the status of insects in North America. The National Academies provides expert advice on pressing scientific challenges facing the nation and world. Their goal is to advocate sound policies, inform public opinion, and advance the pursuit of science, engineering, and medicine.

“There have been alarming reports of insect declines across the world, including a recent study that found a 22% decline in butterflies in the United States over the last 20 years,” said Grozinger, Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology and Director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. “This committee will holistically evaluate the existing data on insect declines in North America, identify species and groups that are especially at risk, and provide recommendations for future research priorities and strategies to reduce or reverse these declines.”

In 2019, in response to mounting reports of insect declines, Penn State’s Huck Institutes, College of Agricultural Sciences, and Institutes of Energy and the Environment formed the Insect Biodiversity Center. Grozinger was the founding director of this interdisciplinary research unit, which brought together faculty from nine Colleges with expertise in insect biology, management, ecology, technology development, Earth and environment monitoring systems, data science and modeling, decision support systems, human dimensions, communication science, and education.

Because of the Center’s highly collaborative culture and exceptionally broad and diverse set of disciplines, a number of pioneering initiatives were developed there under Grozinger’s leadership. One example is the Interdisciplinary Studies in Entomology, Computer Science, and Technology Network (INSECT NET) graduate training program.

With the support of a $3 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation, INSECT NET students have developed computer vision and AI-enabled systems for

monitoring whole insect communities, bees, monarch butterfly caterpillars, and pest species. The program provides novel and non-lethal systems for monitoring insects while simultaneously engagiung students with outstanding, hands-on training opportunities.

“Because these questions and challenges need to be addressed by researchers, stakeholders and policymakers together, it provides an outstanding platform for inspiring and training our next generation of interdisciplinary scientists as well,” said Grozinger. “I am very much looking forward to working together with the other committee members to dive deeply into the scientific data and literature to understand what is shaping insect populations and communities in North America, and how we can better support them.”

The study will focus on several critical questions, including:

  • What is the evidence for long-term downward changes in abundance and diversity of insects?
  • For demonstrably declining populations, where are losses projected to be most severe, what taxa are most at risk, and what anthropogenic stressors are implicated in these declines?
  • What have been the actual and potential economic, ecological, and evolutionary consequences of historical declines and what are the projected consequences?
  • What research and monitoring needs should receive priority attention and support from federal funding agencies and other stakeholders?
  • What actions can be taken to mitigate declines and concomitant ecosystem function losses?

“Christina is an excellent choice for this, given her prominence as a world leader in insect biodiversity,” said Andrew Read, Penn State senior vice president for research. “I am glad she has committed to this important role.”

Grozinger is a fellow of the Entomological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and received the 2021 National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences and the 2023 Penn State President’s Award for Excellence in Academic Integration. She currently serves as the chair of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board Pollinator Subcommittee. She received her bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology at McGill University, and her master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University.