Insects and Society

Prof. Timothy Schowalter received his Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Georgia, USA (1979), where he studied insect responses to forest harvest practices. He subsequently trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Texas A&M University, USA, studying bark beetle population dynamics and effects on pine forest ecosystems. He continued to work on insect responses to changing forest conditions and effects on forest ecosystems as a professor at Oregon State University, USA, for 22 years (1981- 2003). Prof. Schowalter moved to Louisiana State University in 2003 as Department Head and Professor of Entomology, serving as Head until 2015. He retired in 2020 as Professor Emeritus.

His research advanced our understanding of how insect responses to natural and anthropogenic disturbances affect ecosystem structure, function (including herbivory, decomposition, and biogeochemical fluxes) and services. Much of his research was in conjunction with the US Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. He developed one of the longest-term databases on arthropod responses to environmental changes, including 29 years of responses to hurricane and drought disturbances at the Luquillo Experimental Forest LTER site in Puerto Rico. He collaborated with Taiwanese colleagues on a binational funded research project to compare arthropod responses to cyclonic storms in the two countries. He has published five books, including Insect Ecology: an Ecosystem Approach, 5th edition (2022), Insects and Society (2020) and Insects and Sustainability of Ecosystem Services (2013), more than 90 peer-reviewed journal papers, including 3 invited reviews, and a large number of additional book chapters, symposia proceedings and other publications. He has served as Program Director for Ecosystem Studies at the National Science Foundation, where he made funding decisions for ecosystem projects across the USA. He has served as elected Vice President for Public Affairs, Ecological Society of America (1999-2002) and Program Chair for the 2018 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. He was named a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America in 2012. He served as Southeastern Branch Representative to the Entomological Society of America Governing Board (2013-2018) and as Vice President of the Entomological Society of America (2019-2020).