Arianne Cease is a sustainability scientist who works to understand how human-plant-insect interactions affect the sustainability of agricultural systems.

A major focus is on locust plagues and phenotypic plasticity in response to agricultural practices in China, Australia, West Africa and South America. She investigates the interactions among human behavior, market forces, and ecological systems in situations in which human decisions to overstock and overgraze rangeland alter plant nutrient content, increasing the likelihood of locust outbreaks. A key goal of her research is to improve sustainable ecosystem management and rural livelihoods.

Cease is an assistant professor in the School of Sustainability and the School of Life Sciences. She is also director of ASU’s Global Locust Initiative.