Chasing bugs, overcoming stage fright and trying it all: The wonder women pursuing their passions

Her love for bugs saves the earth

They may sting, scare and make us squirm. But insects, so often dismissed as tiny pests, are of colossal importance to the world.

Just ask Assistant Professor Nalini Puniamoorthy, who has combed the dense jungles of Costa Rica in search of a dung fly no larger than a fingertip, and bred black soldier flies in the lab to help recycle Singapore’s food waste.

“They play such big roles in our livelihoods. When we lose insects, we lose a keystone component of our biodiversity,” said Prof Puniamoorthy, a researcher at the NUS Department of Biological Sciences who has spent the last two decades studying these critters.

Prof Puniamoorthy’s research is geared towards capitalising on insects to make the world a better place.

She cited how some bugs help pollinate food crops and are sources of treasured commodities like silk and honey. In nature, they also break down dead organic matter to release nutrients back into the environment, and are a staple diet of many larger animals.

Her research is all geared towards building a better world. “At the end of the day, we want to leave something behind that is useful for other people,” she said.

For instance, her studies on how mosquitoes reproduce is helping to combat the periodic dengue outbreaks in Singapore.

Prof Puniamoorthy’s research has taken her to the Alps for fieldwork.

In recent years, she has also observed that insects are slowly shedding their bad reputation and gaining recognition for their importance. For example, protein-rich crickets are increasingly being viewed as a sustainable food source of the future.

“The knowledge about insects is also getting more popular in science,” she said. “There is an increasing number of people who realise that they might be useful.”

Adapted with permission from UCO source article