For experts and organisations

Make your expertise easier to reach, on your terms.

Extreme frontal macro of a fly face with pale compound eyes and dense golden-brown hairs.

NewOrganisations can now apply

A club, society, museum, or recording scheme can now join the network as an organisation, so introductions reach a shared inbox rather than one person. To apply for an organisation, tick the expert box on the signup form and then select the organisation option.

We highly recommend contacting us first at .

By applying for an organisation you certify that you are authorised to do so, and you give us permission to verify this with the organisation.

Organisation representatives: apply here

Entomology is a small world, but it is not always an easy one to enter.

Students, early career researchers, recorders, naturalists, and curious people often know they need help. What they do not know is who to ask, whether the question is appropriate, or whether they are about to bother the wrong person.

The Ommatidium Project is meant to make that first step easier.

If you join our network, you are not signing up to be spammed with questions. You give us your preferences: the groups and subjects you’re open to, and how often we can contact you. When a request looks like a fit, one of our volunteers sends it your way. Your email is not published or shared without your consent.

What you would actually see

The email a volunteer sends when a request looks like a fit for you. The second line depends on how we found you:

If you told the project privately what you are open to: “You previously told the project you’re open to questions about [group].”
If you are publicly listed in our directory: “Your profile says you’re open to questions about [group].”
If a volunteer suggested you as a contact: “Your name came up as someone who might know this group, and I wanted to check whether you’d be open to an introduction.”

Example introduction

An introduction, sent through the project

From The Ommatidium Project

Subject An introduction: [name] would value your help with [group]

Hi [contact name],

I’m [volunteer name], a volunteer with the Ommatidium Project, a network that helps people find their way into entomology and the wider world of invertebrates.

[one of the three openings above]

[name] got in touch through our website. They’re based in [region] and describe themselves as [background]. They’re interested in [group], and what they’re after is [help].

Would you be open to a short reply, or a conversation if you have time? If you reply to this email, it reaches them directly. Any questions, our address is at the bottom.

Thanks for your time,

[volunteer name], a volunteer with the Ommatidium Project

You are not listed by default, and your email is not simply published. When a match is appropriate, a volunteer sends one introduction that connects both people. If you reply, it reaches the requester directly.

From the founder

When I started this project, I saw how hard it can be to get pointed to the right person in entomology, or the wider invertebrate fields. Some groups have almost no one working on them. Some mites in the United States may have a single taxonomic expert in the whole country. So a fine identification question turns into hunting down that one person, asking around the world, and hoping. Maybe you get a half answer. Maybe you get nothing.

An open directory helps, but an open directory also makes people uncomfortable, because it’s open and direct, and who’s to say you won’t get spammed? Most specialists don’t have time for a flood of requests. But if they can control it, one or two a month, that works.

This project makes the introduction without turning you into a help desk, and without putting your details out in the open. Everything stays filtered, with a human eye on it, so a question has a better chance of reaching the right person.

Think of the useful connections that happen at a conference. This project tries to give you that kind of connection without waiting for the right conference or a chance conversation. You can advertise what you’re open to advising on, and you can find people in our directory who can help. For those who are new or unsure, it gives them somewhere to start.

You choose what kinds of questions you get, based on what you tell us in the intake form or update later in your account. You set your own limit, pause whenever you want, and you can stay private inside our routing system. We do not publish your contact details without your consent.

You do not have to be in the spotlight. You do not have to take on much. A few useful replies can matter.

What you get back

One thing that’s different here is the impact report. Many of us are already stretched, and taking on more can be a hard ask. So the project gives you something back: a private record of the requests you helped with, that you can use later in an annual review, a promotion case, a grant report, or just for your own files. Requesters are not identified. It shows what your time actually led to, and your time is what helps the wider community.

See an example impact report

Join as an expert contact