Doctoral student Andrew Burchill has one of the most painstaking jobs in science. His work with ASU’s Social Insect Research Group includes “mass animal christening,” that so far has been requiring him to identify and keep track of vast multitudes of ants by painting tags on them with a human eyelash taped to a toothpick. But Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Ted Pavlic has come to Burchill’s rescue. Pavlic combined his skills in electrical and computer engineering, computer science and life sciences — and expertise in telecommunications and the behavior of complex systems — to solve a problem Burchill says has long been frustrating biologists.