Entomologist Norm Johnson on a Wild Wasp Hunt
The National Science Foundation recently awarded a $2.6 million grant to
Biological Sciences Entomology Professor Norm Johnson and Professor
Andrew Austin, of the University of Adelaide. For the next five years, Johnson
and Austin will lead a group of international researchers from nine countries
on a search for some 2,500 new species of parasitic wasps no bigger than
a half a grain of rice. Although these wasps are small, their influence is
huge—the wasps make excellent biological control agents and help maintain
ecological balance.
Originally published Summer 2006
