This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Arthropods are small, but they could play an outsized role in tackling some of the world's biggest challenges. That's the idea behind the Community for Arthropod Research, Education, and Materials Innovation at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Led by Husker researchers Eileen Hebets and Angela Pannier, CAREMI is built around the idea that arthropods—the most diverse group of animals on Earth, including insects, spiders and crabs—can serve as a unifying focus for interdisciplinary research in medicine, agriculture, materials science and more. Launched in 2024 with a Grand Challenges Planning Grant from the Office of Research and Innovation, CAREMI's momentum continues to grow. Earlier this year, Hebets, Pannier, Nicole Sexton and graduate student Jillian Kurovski published a paper in the journal Insects making a case for harnessing arthropods' resilience and diversity as a source of inspiration for open-ended, transdisciplinary research.
The paper—a CAREMI "manifesto" of sorts, Hebets said—encompasses the community's big-picture goal of facilitating unexpected connections. "What excites me most about this paper is that it puts into words the idea that has been driving CAREMI from the beginning: arthropods can be a kind of intellectual and creative magnet," said Hebets, George Holmes Professor of biological sciences. "They are so extraordinarily diverse, and they intersect with so many aspects of our lives, that they give people who might otherwise never find themselves in the same room a reason to come together.
And once you create that community, you don't necessarily know where the connections will lead." That spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration is translating to tangible research progress. About 40 Husker researchers, along with colleagues from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and other institutions within Nebraska and beyond, are currently affiliated with CAREMI. Partnerships among them have already produced preliminary data, publications, grant proposals and student research projects.
Topics include arthropod-inspired biochemical sensors and dragonfly wing-inspired microfluidic chips; improved surveillance of tick-borne diseases in Nebraska; and investigations of spider venom's potential for cancer treatment, among many others. Pannier is the Swarts Family Chair of Biological Systems Engineering and a professor of biomedical engineering. Sexton is an assistant professor of biological sciences.
The community's progress was on full display Aug. 19 at CAREMI's third annual Arthropodium, a symposium showcasing arthropods' impact on research, education, art and culture. Interim Chancellor Katherine Ankerson welcomed attendees, noting that the group reflects the culture of collaboration that defines UNL. "CAREMI is a model for what interdisciplinary collaboration can look like," Ankerson said in her remarks.
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