I am a recent university graduate, and am looking for a job or opportunity at grad school. My field of interest is kind of weird, it can only really be described as “Arthropodology”.
I am interested in the evolutionary history, higher level systematics, macroecology and and trait distribution across Arthropoda. For example, a study I want to do in the future is the distribution of body sizes among arthropods. So what is the average body size of insects compared to arachnids, copepods, etc and what factors explain such differences like habitat, respiratory system, etc. Another more longer term interest of mine is mapping the distribution of every (family level, ideally) group of arthropods on Earth, both marine and terrestrial, to see where most of the world’s phylogenetic diversity of arthropods is concentrated, something that cannot just be extrapolated from rainforest canopy beetles. Yet another thing I want to do is compare adult body size, offspring size, clutch size, lifespan, and eggs vs live birth across arthropod taxa.
But here comes the question. Does this field actually exist? Can I actually make a living doing such a thing? Am I institutionally “homeless”? My interests include many creatures that far beyond the scope of entomology such as parasitic and deep sea crustaceans, but also includes many terrestrial organisms like insects that are outside the scope of marine biology. I suppose “zoology” is a good enough fit but “zoology” on its own with no adjectives tends to strongly imply vertebrates in practice.
So, what do I do? I have been surfing Google scholar for years, and there are very few papers that I would call “arthropodological”. Am I way over my head?
There’s always academia, although you might not be able to teach courses in entomology or invertebrate biology exclusively. But a teaching post would allow you to do some research. I’ve known a few arthropod specialists who taught at the high school level and did their research outside of their job. Or went into applied entomology such as agricultural research/management. There are jobs in agencies for those with entomological training but it might not align with your interests. We can’t always find the perfect job but it’s a living.
I am very disinterested in “useful” things like agriculture and vector control tbh. I guess the closest existing analogy to what I want to be is Darren Naish and his Tetrapod Zoology thing going on, but for arthropods.
Could I become a professor of ‘Arthropod Zoology’? Its more specific than invertebrate Zoology but broader than entomology
I’m guessing you don’t yet have a PhD since you mentioned going to grad school. I guess I’d start by finding a grad school where you can research your interests and get a paid research/teaching assistantship and not worry beyond that step.
Agreed with this. Finding a niche title for what you want to do is fun, but if you’re looking for something actionable, you need to find a grad program that matches your interests. Grad program/degree titles often have more to do with history and departmental politics over the past 50 years than specificity about study methodology.
Find a professor doing work like you want to do (Sounds like Darren Naish is someone?) and see if they’re taking on grad students. It’s okay if they don’t study the same species as you do, it can be just as useful to be able to say “Professor is studying [taxon a] the way I want to study [taxon b].”
Edit: also note that academia in the US is REALLY screwed up right now, and I strongly advise against going to grad school without funding. You may find that taking on ““useful” things like agriculture and vector control” may be a way to get funding for studyin g your interest obliquely.
I’m not current with the problems in US academia but can imagine what they are. I had a paying job outside of the university when I pursued my master’s degree so didn’t rely on school funding for anything. Not always easy to go that route but it’s not a bad idea to seek employment that interests you before you jump right back into a university. Some job experience outside of academia before getting another degree can be a plus.
What happens if I secure a grad school application but without funding?
You rely on loans or pay for your schooling on your own.
As an aside, does anyone know why ‘‘arthropod zoology’’ isn’t really a thing?
Insects have far reaching effects on people, so entomology is there. Most other arthropods don’t have as much of an impact and are thus subsumed into just zoology/biology.
Well mites (agriculture/medicine), decapods (commercial fisheries), and copepods (fish feed in aquaculture) are quite important I would say. On the flip side, plenty of insects are not important at all like mantophasmids
Insects make up maybe more than 75% of all animal species. I really doubt any other arthropod group can make as big a claim.
Well pelagic crustaceans (krill and copepods) make up the majority of biomass. And, even strictly on land, most individual arthropods are mites. Species richness is only one metric of dominance.
Regardless, it’s not really a contest. This doesn’t seem to answer why “insect” is the primary unit of operation and not “arthropod”, after all arthropods make up over 80% of animal species.
There are other arthropod researchers such as carcinologists. Accident of history maybe that no one thought to group the study of all arthropods (due to their diversity) into one field. Given the preponderance of arthropods, maybe being simply a biologist or zoologist covered that.
I looked it up and it seems my guess is right. This is what google says:
Yes, the specific scientific discipline that studies all arthropods (insects, arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans) is called arthropodology. [1, 2]
However, because arthropods are incredibly diverse, the field is more commonly broken down into specialized sub-disciplines based on the specific type of creature: [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Entomology: The study of insects.
- Arachnology: The study of spiders, scorpions, and ticks.
- Carcinology (or Crustaceology): The study of crustaceans (e.g., crabs, shrimp, and lobsters).
- Myriapodology: The study of centipedes and millipedes. [1, 2, 3]
I mean the word exists but no one really calls themself that. From what I know, stuff about myriapods and arachnids often just gets lumped under entomology and crustaceans their own thing.
I tell others in my life my interest is “entomology” for the sake of simplicity, but truthfully I am more of a zoologist that happens to have a strong emphasis on insects and related creatures. I really like Gregory D. Edgecombe’s work but sadly he is in another country.
As noted, the diversity of arthropods means most people specialize into one of the subgroups (or simply be a biologist with a specialization in group x)..
And to be honest, to the layperson, the only thing that they would recognize would probably be “entomologist”.
In the end, labels are just labels. You do what you love doing and to heck with the official name for it.
I think many grad students are financed via being a TA or RA. I was the former and actually did pretty ok as a teaching assistant.
The specific paper I want to eventually write is one about the body size distribution across arthropod taxa, and the ecological and anatomical factors behind it. Something I am not clear on is if I as a graduate student get to decide the topic or if I have to adhere myself to an existing research project.
So, typically, I would think whatever project you work on has to be somewhat tangential to the work done by the lab in general, perhaps simply because funding is geared toward certain areas. Which is why you gotta choose the lab well. Saying that, some profs probably are more malleable than others. I was never a prof, but I was a grad student.