Educating the Next Generation of Insect Rearing Professionals: Lessons from the International Insect Rearing Workshop, Mississippi State University, 2000–2017

Abstract

nsect rearing science and technology provide vital support for many areas of entomology and its applications, including basic and applied research, pest management (e.g., biological control, host plant resistance, and insecticide development), apiculture, public displays (e.g., insect zoos, butterfly houses), educational activities, and the nascent technology of insect production for feed and food. Consequently, insect rearing received increasing attention during the twentieth century and was explicitly recognized as a profession by In spite of this recognition, until the twenty-first century, insect rearing professionals received nearly all their training informally by working in insect rearing programs, networking with other professionals, studying insect rearing manuals and literature (e.g.,