Project team
The core project team members are all based in the Centre for Language, Discourse & Communication at King’s College London.
Olivia is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics and the project lead. She has interests in how we use language to represent and shape relationships between humans and non-human animals. Her fondness for insects springs from a lifelong fascination with animals and other living organisms that often get considered as weird, gross or ugly (think jellyfish, fungi, parasitic plants…)
Favourite UK insect: Hummingbird hawk moth (migratory, admittedly)
Jill is Professor in Psychology and Language Development and a project co-lead. Her research interests focus on the relationship between language and cognition in relation to children’s development with a focus on the natural world. Her interest in insects (apart from their fascinating diversity behaviourally and morphologically) stems from their centrality in ecosystems around the world.
Favourite UK insect: Emperor dragonfly
Chris is Lecturer in International Education & Applied Linguistics and a project co-lead. His work has looked at how the framing of environmental phenomena can contribute to their perception as threatening, threatened, or as societal assets. Insects, as biologically diverse and ecologically central, while simultaneously comprising a subgenre of horror films, are a fascinating case. As a lifelong extreme urbanite without an insect hotel, he’s now joyfully encountering insects via taxonomies.
Favourite UK insect: Euroleon nostras (the UK’s only species of antlion!)
Emma is a Research Associate on the project. Her background is in corpus linguistics, lexicology, ecolinguistics and critical animal studies, and she is especially interested in the disparities between discursive representations of different species. This has naturally led to the study of insects, which, despite their ubiquity, are perhaps some of the most misunderstood and overlooked species of all.
Favourite UK insect: Crane fly (or ‘daddy longlegs’)
Elisbeth is a PhD student researching insect framings in children’s educational materials and exploring children’s perceptions of and engagement with insects. She has a background in linguistics and psychology, and is interested in how the language we use can shape our beliefs and engagement with the world. Her curiosity about insects stems from enjoying walks in nature and observing fascinating interactions between wildlife.
Favourite UK insect: All species of bumblebee
Consultants
As well as the core project team, we are joined by consultants who are world-leading experts in entomology and public engagement.
Professor of Biology (Ecology and Evolution), University of Sussex
Professor of Conservation Ecology, University of Gloucestershire
Advisory board
Our advisory board is made up of academics in psychology, linguistics, education, sociology and critical animal studies.
Associate Professor of Cognitive Science,
Vassar College
Reader in Science & Environmental Education, King’s College London
Professor of Language and Professional Communication, University of Reading
Dr Robert Poole
Associate Professor of TESOL and Applied Linguistics, University of Alabama
Dr Richard Twine
Reader in Sociology, Edge Hill University
