Meet the Editor: Shannon Murphy 

Shannon Murphy was appointed an Editor-in-Chief for Ecological Entomology in 2024. Ecological Entomology is aimed at ecologists driven by ecological or evolutionary theory, and prioritizes innovative contributions testing specific hypotheses. Shannon’s journey to ecological entomology is a fascinating one – read on to discover more.

How did your academic career develop, and what led you to entomology in particular?

When I was an undergraduate student, I studied Abert squirrels (they are so cute – google them!) with Yan Linhart. These squirrels do not cache food, so in the winter they survive by eating pine phloem, which is amazing because it is such a poor-quality diet. I studied their digestive systems by collecting road-kill squirrels – my first publication was actually in the Journal of Mammalogy! But the next step of the project would have involved killing squirrels, which I could not do. Yan jokingly asked me if I thought I’d be ok killing insects instead and suggested I think about entomology for graduate school. I took my first entomology classes at Cornell and knew this is what I wanted to study for the rest of my life. 

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I love working with students on research. There are some who join my lab to just see what research is like and it’s great to watch them develop a fondness for insects and plants. Then there are other students who know they want to conduct their own research project, and I love working with them on every step and then seeing the excitement they feel when their name appears on their first publication. I’m also amazed at all the different directions my research has gone because of the diverse interests of my students – I love that I’ll never run out of questions because every project we complete together just leads to new questions. 

What do you appreciate the most about being involved with the RES?

I really like meeting all the different people and learning so many new, interesting things about insects. Even though I’ve been studying insects for almost 30 years, I’m still learning new things everyday by working with the RES. I also appreciate working for a Society that cares so deeply about insects and their conservation. 

What is the best part of your role as EiC of your journal?

Trying to facilitate others’ ability to publish their research. My own experiences with editors have been valuable over the years; even when I got rejected, the editors and reviewers helped me to figure out how to better present my research. My goal is to try to be that editor for others and help them to get their work out there so it can move our field forward. 

Many entomologists travel widely – what was the most enjoyable fieldwork location you’ve worked in, and would you recommend it for a holiday?

I am one of those people who has been lucky enough to do fieldwork around the world, but I feel lucky now that my fieldwork is near my house so I can work in the field and still see my family at the end of the day. The most exciting place that I worked was Alaska and the Yukon. I started working as a tech on the North Slope of Alaska at Toolik Lake and then I continued to work in Alaska and the Yukon for 5 more summers during my PhD. For 3 of those summers, I drove a field truck from New York to Alaska, which took 10 days each way. I either camped or “house”sat for friends; I put house in quotes because they were often just shacks without water and sometimes didn’t even have electricity (grad students in Alaska live very differently from grad students elsewhere!). On one of those trips, I found a husky puppy abandoned on the side of the road in the Yukon and he became my best friend and field helper for 13 years. I would definitely recommend both Alaska and Colorado for a holiday! 

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

A friend of mine had a term called ‘short-line superpowers’ that I love because we all have them, but many people just don’t recognize their own superpowers. Her theory was that after you die and before you are reborn you go into a gym with tables where you can sign up for different superpowers for your next life. The lines for flying and invisibility are very long, and you will likely be reincarnated before you reach the front. So, it’s better to hit some of the ‘short-line superpowers’ – powers with short wait lines that are not glamorized in cinema, and that we may take for granted, but deserve appreciation. Two of my short-line superpowers are 1) parallel parking and 2) being able to take a random assortment of leftover food and create a completely different meal.  

If you could wake up with any new skill, what would it be?

I wish I liked keying out insects, but I don’t and I’m terrible at it. I also really wish I could find the time to learn R better. 

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