Peter Kuper’s Insectopolis has been given the official nod from the Entomological Society of America. For his sweeping graphic history of insects and the people who study them, the ESA has bestowed the cartoonist their 2025 Science Communication Award.
Kuper will receive a $500 cash prize, an inscribed plaque, and be recognised at the next ESA Annual Meeting, which is set to take place November 9-12 in Portland, Oregan. He will also be giving a special presentation about the book.
According to the ESA, the Science Communication Award honors “impactful and innovative communication projects or programs that engage diverse public audiences with entomology-related scientific information.”
It adds:
“Winners are chosen for their creativity, effectiveness, and reach in fostering public appreciation and understanding of the insect world. By raising public awareness of entomology, these award-winning projects and programs can help to promote conservation efforts and inspire future generations of scientists.”
Kuper’s WW Norton-published graphic novel was a pandemic project, with the idea emerging from his time wandering the empty halls of the New York Public Library as a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center Fellow in 2020. According to Kuper:
“I found myself alone wandering the grand halls and magnificent rooms in the total absence of the visiting public who usually throng the building. But for me, this became a silver lining in a dark pandemic cloud. I already knew my fellowship work would involve insects. The building’s unprecedented vacantness allowed me to focus on its Beaux-Arts architectural details—and inspired me to populate the environment with the arthropods I’d set out to study. Ultimately, I decided to have these insects tell their own stories as they explored the Library’s treasures.”
One of the newer annual awards from the ESA, the Science Communication Award was introduced in 2021. Previous recipients have included an online learning course, and school-age learning curricula or kits. Kuper becomes the first cartoonist to win the prize.
The ESA largely gives awards to those in the scholarly space – with a litany of post-doctoral and doctoral researchers being given prizes. The Science Communication Award is open to all professional disciplines, educational backgrounds and career stages with the only stipulation being that participants must be ESA members.
The Entomological Society of America was established in 1889 and is considered the largest organisation in the world serving those who study insects. Their website says:
“ESA has nearly 7,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students, pest management professionals, and hobbyists.”
