Expansive collaboration: An innovative service-learning model for entomology teaching and research with graduate and undergraduate students

“Expansive Collaboration” is a highly interactive, multi-institutional group that represents a significantly wide variety of disciplines as a collective teaching-learning unit. This service-learning model generated at Montana State University (2002) includes geographical Region A and geographical Region B containing the community-of-focus with community partners bridging cultural, including linguistic, gaps between regions. The Model included Land-Grant Universities, private, service-based universities, and a Tribal College as well as the national agricultural research organization and national agricultural university in Region B. Since 2002 we tested the model, progressively adding Land Grant Universities, two Entomology Departments, (Virginia Tech, University of California-Riverside). Since conception, the Model has benefitted 3120 students in classroom courses; 129 students had at least one village-based collaborative research or service-learning experience in Region B; and 31 faculty in 8 institutions of higher education, 7 secondary schools and 2 elementary schools collaborated. Entomological issues played a role in each of the Expansive Collaborative groupings. The model created synergy within existing curricula not possible with a simpler teaching and learning team and exemplifies a paradigm shift in how higher education, including entomology faculty, can help bridge the gap between offering well-intentioned assistance and sustainably alleviating material poverty or other community-based issues.