Desk Set: Rob Dunn
Professor of Applied Ecology and Senior Vice Provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs
Who: Rob Dunn is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Applied Ecology and the Senior Vice Provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs. He has been an NC State faculty member since 2005 and has written eight books, including his most recent: The Call of the Honeyguide: What Science Tells Us About How to Live Well With the Rest of Life.
Office: David Clark Labs 231 is a vestige of Dunn’s early days at NC State. He describes his office not as a solitary space, but as part of the ecosystem of the hallway. When he first started as an assistant professor, he accidentally moved into a vacant office across the hall that was claimed by the department head, who, Dunn says with a laugh, “was not thrilled with that act.” Now he splits his time between David Clark Labs and Holladay Hall.
Dunn says his job is about connecting people and ideas around the globe and over thousands of years. His office is a testament to that mission.
A Living Legacy: Dunn picked up a painting of Brazil nut trees while working on his Ph.D. in the Bolivian Amazon. The 150-foot trees were heavily managed 2,000 years ago, he says, and they can only grow in open habitat. All of the Brazil nuts we eat today come from forests like the one in Dunn’s painting. “They’re the living legacy of a 2,000-year-old empire,” he says. “When we eat Brazil nuts, we’re eating the consequence of that empire.”
Pinning It All Together: A former student’s insect collection reminds Dunn of a key part of his career when he did a lot of insect work. He points to a leaf-cutter ant queen: “She flies to start a colony … with hundreds of thousands of individuals,” he explains. “Well,” he says with a pause, “she didn’t. She’s dead.”
Tiny Lives: There was a time when Dunn would look through a microscope every day. “My dreams would be full of legs,” he says. That’s not an uncommon experience for an entomologist, he assures. “You just look through a lens at those small beings all day, and that’s all you can see when you close your eyes.”
Page Turner: Most of the wall space in Dunn’s office is devoted to bookshelves. He has books on California desert ants, katydids of Costa Rica, the biology of termites, bats of the world and la flora de la Española. Copies of his own books, including some in foreign languages, also sit on the shelves. “What is one really to do with a book in a language you can’t read?” he asks. “Except it seems silly to not have it.” He wrote parts of his books in his office, and he points to areas on his bookshelves that correlate with each of his titles. “When writing, I live in a series of books for a couple of years.” During that time, he says, “I’m way more in the books than in the — this,” he says, gesturing to the physical plane of existence.
Tell Us What You Think
Do you have a personal connection to this story? Did it spark a memory? Want to share your thoughts? Send us a letter, and we may include it in an upcoming issue of NC State magazine.
