Where next for the discipline of nematology? Trends and implications for workforce sustainability, disease diagnostics, and biosecurity

Nematodes are among the most abundant and functionally important organisms on Earth, strongly influencing soil processes, agricultural productivity, and biosecurity systems. Despite nematodes’ increasingly important role in agricultural resilience and national biosecurity, the discipline has experienced sustained institutional decline across North America. This work examines the historical development, peak, and contraction of nematology as a scientific discipline in the United States, with comparative insights from Canada. Drawing on historical records, professional society membership data, faculty demographics, diagnostic infrastructure, and bibliometric analyses, we demonstrate that current nematology capacity is increasingly fragile, geographically concentrated, and insufficient to meet emerging risks. The findings reveal a paradox: while nematode-driven threats to crops, forests, and ecosystems are intensifying due to global trade and environmental change, workforce pipelines, diagnostic capacity, and institutional support continue to erode. Bibliometric trends further suggest that the field’s future visibility depends on cross-disciplinary integration with molecular biology, ecology, and food security research. We argue that nematology constitutes critical scientific infrastructure and that its decline reflects structural disinvestment rather than diminished relevance. Strategic reinvestment in nematology training, diagnostics, and faculty positions is essential in an increasingly high-risk global environment.