Hojun Song
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Mail code: 4501Campus: Tempe
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Dr. Hojun Song received his Ph.D. in Entomology from the Ohio State University in 2006. Dr. Song joined the Department of Biology at the University of Central Florida as an Assistant Professor and Curator of the UCF Collection of Arthropods in 2010. In 2015, Dr. Song joined the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor, and was quickly promoted with tenure in 2016, and rose to the rank of Full Professor in 2022. In August 2025, Dr. Song joined the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University as Professor and Director of the ASU Biocollections and a PI of NSF NEON Biorepository. He also serves as Director of Biodiversity Knowledge Integration Center (BioKIC). Dr. Song has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in insect systematics, biodiversity, insect behavior, and natural history. He developed a new graduate course in insect behavior, and a new study abroad course in field entomology in Costa Rica. Dr. Song’s research focuses on documenting biodiversity and understanding evolutionary relationships in the insect order Orthoptera, which includes grasshoppers, katydids and crickets. He also studies the evolution and mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity using swarming locusts as a model system. Dr. Song has received over $16 million in external research funding from the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture. He is a founding Co-Director of the Behavioral Plasticity Research Institute (BPRI), an NSF-funded Biology Integration Institute. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Insect Systematics & Diversity. Dr. Song has written 95 peer-reviewed articles and eight book chapters. Dr. Song has chaired 10 doctoral committees, six master’s committees, and served on over 20 others. He has also mentored over 60 undergraduate researchers. Dr. Song received the NSF CAREER award in 2013, and the Fulbright Scholarship in 2019 to visit Australia. He also received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching, Entomological Society of America Southwestern Branch (2021) and the Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence for Teaching, Texas A&M AgriLife (2021).
- Ph.D. in Entomology, 2006. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. (Advisor: John W. Wenzel)
- M.S. in Entomology, 2002. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. (Advisors: John W. Wenzel and Norman F. Johnson)
- B.S. in Entomology, ,2000. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
My current research program is at the nexus of understanding the patterns of biological diversity and the proximate mechanisms underlying diverse forms and functions, utilizing modern tools, techniques, and theoretical approaches. My research is integrative and interdisciplinary, drawing from many different subdisciplines within biology and solidly based on a phylogenetic framework. My taxonomic expertise is in the insect order Orthoptera (grasshoppers, locusts, katydids, and crickets) and I am considered one of the leading experts globally. Another major focus of my research program is to understand the evolution and mechanism of phenotypic plasticity using swarming locusts as a model clade.