Friday, March 9, 2018

Hello Everyone,

My name is Daniel and I'm taking this class to fulfill a prerequisite for an MS in Entomology. I developed an interest in insects many years ago and although I have casually read numerous books about the social behaviors of ants and bees and most recently a fascinating book by Jeffrey Lockwood on entomological warfare, I wanted to study insects from a more academic level. Given UNL's online platform, I applied for admission and here I am. 

I live in Istanbul, Turkey where I own my own consulting company that provides aid accountability in humanitarian settings throughout the Middle East and Africa. My work has indirect connections to entomology -- most directly in the work that we do for the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) where we monitor nutrition levels of food basket beneficiaries in Iraq, Syria, Libya and a few other locations regionally. For years, WFP has sought to include insects as a food source in their food baskets; however, has struggled to overcome social and cultural stigmas associated with consuming insects.

During the course of my studies, I'm hoping to leverage my contacts at WFP and my cultural awareness of the Middle East and Africa to develop strategies to better overcome the social stigmas preventing WFP from being able to offer cost-effective and nutritional food baskets to beneficiaries in emergencies throughout the developing world.

No comments:

Post a Comment