The Team

Dr. Aaron T. Dossey

President, Founder And Owner

Dr. Aaron T. Dossey is a lifelong, self-taught Entomologist and nature enthusiast who is very passionate about his work, as anyone who has ever known him can strongly attest. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cum Laude from Oklahoma State University in 2001, with minors in Chemistry and Mathematics. He graduated with his Ph.D. in Biomedical Science, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology (Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Sciences–IDP) from the University of Florida’s College of Medicine in 2006.

While unemployed and with $5,000 of his own money and a grant from the Gates Foundation, Dr. Dossey started All Things Bugs LLC in 2011 (click here for more on “Our Story“). He was also invited to and attended the UN FAO (United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization) expert consultation on the potential for insects to contribute to human food security at the organization’s headquarters in Rome, Italy, in 2012–one of the seminal catalysts for the recently emerged insect industry. As a world leader in the field, Dr. Dossey recently published a critical comprehensive foundational reference book, “Insects as Sustainable Food Ingredients,” covering all aspects of insects as food (historical and current) and the emerging insect-based food industry. He has received over $5 million in research grant funding from the Gates Foundation along with several federal and state government agencies (USDA, DARPA, and OCAST). He has over 30 peer-reviewed research publications and multiple issued and pending patents. The central theme of his research is to capitalize on the chemical and biological diversity of invertebrates for a host of applications, including medicine, biomedical science, agriculture, drug discovery, and how insects might contribute to a more sustainable human food supply.

Dr. Dossey is an avid nature and insect photographer who has reared over 50 different species of insects and founded a non-profit Invertebrate Studies Institute dedicated to insect and invertebrate-based education and outreach, as well as to establish a world-class insect zoo and basic insect chemistry and behavioral research laboratory. Dr. Dossey also enjoys travel, adventure, and collaborating with colleagues to learn more about archaeology in places like Peru.

Tyler Tatum

Technology Commercialization Specialist:

Tyler has over 25 years of experience in technology focused startup ventures, including 20 years in a management / leadership role. Tyler’s core strength is his ability to turn customer needs into marketable products by facilitating communication between business leaders, current and prospective customers and technology developers. Over the last several years, Tyler helped clients raise over $20M in SBIR/STTR funding. He has also supported four teams as a mentor for the NSF I-Corps program. Previously, Tyler Tatum served as Brainlike’s Chief Executive Officer, where he built revenues from zero to $1 million dollars a year with no outside investment. During his tenure at Brainlike, he was able to acquire over $4 million in defense SBIR / STTR and other funding. His career began as a programmer at Netuitive in 1996, where his coding efforts helped the company raise their first $1.5 million in capital. He quickly became Netuitive’s product manager, where he led the company in selling and delivering their first products in two separate markets. After leaving Netuitive in 2001, Tyler ran Project Planet, a leading environmental services company targeting hotels and hospitality providers. At Project Planet, he achieved over 50% revenue growth in a depressed hotel market while dramatically reducing long-term debt and continuously maintaining positive cash flow. Tyler holds a B.S. in computer science from Cornell University

Dr. Fu-Chyun “Clay” Chu

Collaborator (former Senior Scientist)

I am the vice president of Invertebrate Studies Institute and working with insect for more than 10 years. I have a PhD in Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University (NCSU) on 2017. My expertise are insect molecular and genetic researches including DNA/RNA sequencing and biotechnology applications in insect. I have more than 15 years of experience on insect rearing since I was an undergraduate student in Taiwan. During my PhD study, I am also volunteer in the entomology outreach program in NCSU to educate the young generation knowing how special and interest insects are. This genome project is a combination of my work and interesting. It can not only provide more information about this unique species, but also creating more potential opportunities on medical and chemical researches.