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Merch is such a great way to help support Indefensive Plants and look cool in the process. Our merch is customizable in that you can pick your style, your color, and find a botanical print that works for you. Go check it out. I put all the links in the show notes or at the top of Indefensiveplants.com. Just click on Apparel. I thank you in advance. And now on with the show. Hello everyone and

welcome to the Indefensive plants podcast, the official podcast of Indefensiveplants.com. What's up?

This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week? I hope you brought

a hand lens because we are talking about very tiny forms of life, and that is microlepidoptera,

tiny moths that are all around us doing really, really

interesting things. Joining us to talk about this is Dr. Jason Dombroski, who is very passionate

about not only these tiny moths, but the way they interact with the world around them,

specifically things like their host plants. The idea of native plants hosting different insects is a really important

topic, and the world of micro-elapse shines a light on how complex those interactions can be.

I don't want to keep you from this conversation any longer, so let's just jump right into it.

Without further ado, here's my conversation with Dr. Jason Dombrovsky. I hope you enjoy. All right, Dr. Jason Dombrovsky, welcome to the podcast. I am so

pumped to have you here. We've got a lot to talk about

today. But first, tell us a little bit about who you are and what it is you do.

Well, I manage the insect collection at Cornell University and the insect diagnostic lab,

which basically means I get to identify bugs for a living, especially little wee moths is sort of my

specialty. If you put five-year-old Matt down and said, what's a perfect job, that I think might be it. Yeah, I can't complain. You know, my job is never, ever boring. I can never predict what we'll get into the lab and what we'll deal with. So how did you find your way into this world? I mean, were you like me, Bugmarn kind of kid, just collecting and it turned into a career? Or was there another path? Pretty much. So I grew up in the middle of nowhere up in Ontario, in Canada, and near our place called Algonquin Park, which some of the northeasterners will know. Yeah.

And I grew up in a town of 50 people where, you know, the grocery store is an hour drive away kind of deal.

So it's, you're in the sticks.

Right on.

And so your best friend is the nature around you.

And I was lucky in that I have his obsession with having to know the names of things

...