Bio

Adrian Smith is Head of a Research Lab at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences where he is jointly appointed faculty. He is an entomologist focused on insect behavior and natural history. He also produces science media (YouTube channel Ant Lab) and studies how science is communicated to public audiences. https://www.youtube.com/antlab

Publications

• Springtail-inspired compliant hinge enables terrain-adaptable takeoff in insect-scale robots , bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2026)
• Communicating biodiversity research on YouTube: An experimental comparison of scientists and third-party presenters , Public Understanding of Science (2025)
• Ecology and mechanisms of parasitism of Iridomyrmex by the thermophilic ant, Melophorus anderseni , Research Square (2025)
• A morphofunctional study of the jumping apparatus in globular springtails , Arthropod Structure & Development (2024)
• Jumping Performance and Behavior of the Globular Springtail Dicyrtomina minuta , Integrative Organismal Biology (2024)
• A novel power-amplified jumping behavior in larval beetles (Coleoptera: Laemophloeidae) , PLoS ONE (2022)
• Testing how different narrative perspectives achieve communication objectives and goals in online natural science videos , PLoS ONE (2021)
• Bacterial exposure leads to variable mortality but not a measurable increase in surface antimicrobials across ant species , PeerJ (2020)
• Broadcasting Ourselves: Opportunities for Researchers to Share Their Work Through Online Video , Frontiers in Environmental Science (2020)
• The ant-bite video that changed my approach to science communication , Nature (2019)