The New York Times has a great article on the research that is currently being done at the edge of several disciplines, including military biological weapons countermeasures, proteomics and entomology. The reporter, Kirk Johnson, managed to capture some of the nuances of transdiciplinary research in his narrative about the nature of the research partnership, the building of cross-expertise, and the seeming synchronicity of several events that led the two teams (one military and from the University complex) to work together on this problem:
“But researchers on both sides say that colony collapse may be the first time that the defense machinery of the post-Sept. 11 Homeland Security Department and academia have teamed up to address a problem that both sides say they might never have solved on their own.
‘Together we could look at things nobody else was looking at,’ said Colin Henderson, an associate professor at the University of Montana’s College of Technology and a member of Dr. Bromenshenk’s “Bee Alert” team.
Human nature and bee nature were interconnected in how the puzzle pieces came together. Two brothers helped foster communication across disciplines. A chance meeting and a saved business card proved pivotal. Even learning how to mash dead bees for analysis — a skill not taught at West Point — became a factor.”
The complete story can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html?hp