Louisa Stefani: Does increased awareness and understanding of wasps change public perceptions of their importance and utility?

Sept 2025-March 2026

UCL Student Lousia Stefani on her BSc Research Project with the Sumner Lab. Co-supervised by Tannis Davidson at UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology 

Museums play a key role in bridging the communication gap between scientists and the public. Louisa’s project explored the potential of museums to positively reshape public perception of widely disliked organisms through the case study of the World of Wasps exhibition at the UCL Grant Museum of Zoology. She interviewed over 350 visitors to the museum in 2025-2026, to understand the power of exhibitions in communication and changing people’s hearts and minds about one of the world’s least loved insects, the wasps!