Entomology is the study of insects. Simple enough right? Wrong, insects have a large impact on the whole global world.

This afternoon at 3:10 in E146 in Lagomarcino, Dr. Leon Higley, a professor of Entomology at the University of Nebraska will give students the lowdown on how much insects affect our lives.

“Pest Science at the Crossroads” is the title and topic of the lecture Higley will give. “I will be discussing pest sciences and pesticides and how they are hurting and helping our planet,” Higley said.

“Pesticides has been a hot topic among environmentalists for a while now. It’s like a long double-edge sword, we either kill ourselves with the poison from pesticides or we let insects eat and infect our food.”

Not exactly an easy dilemma to solve, but it is a problem that will be discussed.

“Dr. Higley will speak about what we’ve been doing in pest management, and how past and present methods have worked or failed,” said professor Larry Pedigo of the entomology department.

Another hot topic in the entomology world is the spread of infectious disease through insects. “We’ve got a problem with infectious disease and the insects that transmit those diseases,” Higley said.

The lecture may seem like it would only benefit and interest entomology majors, but there is a need for all people to understand what is occurring right under the nose of society.

“There are a lot of issues that are going to affect agriculture in the next 20 years, that will in a large way affect us all,” Higley said.

“It is time we challenged ourselves,” Higley said. “We need to try as a global community to solve problems without creating new ones.”