Charlotte LR Payne

Trying to find some gusanos blancos..Photo credit: Luis Patron

My research focuses on edible insects.

I began to think about insects as a food that might have been important in shaping human evolution - every known primate eats insects; today, insects remain a popular food with human societies worldwide; and there is also evidence that they were eaten by our relatively recent non-human ancestors.

But I got increasingly sidetracked with the idea that insects could also be an important food for the future, particularly as an environmentally sustainable source of protein...

I’m currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, and I'm looking at the potential of edible insects to meet the current need for a protein source that is both healthy and sustainable..

For the past three years I’ve worked in central rural Japan, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. My PhD research will be based primarily in Oaxaca, Mexico. If you’re interested in insect consumption in all or any of these three countries, please take a look at my research pages.

I write a blog about my work in English and Japanese.

In my spare time I mostly try and grow vegetables, arrange flowers, or paint pictures of insects, but I also love hiking, reading, writing, cooking, home-fermenting, running, and wandering around fleamarkets.

Curriculum Vitae

Caterpillars for sale at a market in Limpopo, South Africa

Giant hornets, fresh from the nest

Kushihara village, Gifu-ken

A butterfly at the insect museum in Itami, a short train ride from Kyoto and a must-see for any insect/butterfly/orchid lovers visiting Japan!

Hornets in distilled liquor - the bottle on the left was made ten years ago, the bottle on the right was made on the same day that the photo was taken