Before she was the head of the department of entomology at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Sujaya Rao worked with farmers for over two decades to find insect pest management and pollination solutions.

In the midst of her efforts, she realized that the goal of eliminating insect pests in crops conflicted with the need to conserve bees. By educating the public on the nutritional and agricultural benefits of insects as food, Dr. Rao hopes to gather support for eating bugs as a more sustainable way of feeding the global population, which is projected to be 9 billion plus humans in the year 2050.