Educational Outreach

The Department of Entomology has a thriving educational outreach program. Our outreach activities extend beyond the Texas A&M University campus and include surrounding communities and school districts, regional and national meetings and conferences. Some programs are designed simply to educate others about insects in general: their structure, diversity, and impact in society. Other programs may provide an opportunity to correct common misperceptions about entomology and serve to provide information about the wide array of career and employment opportunities that exist in this field.

Many entomology faculty, staff, and students participate in outreach activities on a year-round basis. In 2004 alone, the department participated in over 45 outreach programs that reached nearly 10,000 students. We have hosted students from surrounding community colleges, various home school groups, attended mother’s day out programs, local school science family nights, judged science fair competitions, and participated in several college day programs and camps. And this is just a small sampling of the exciting events in which we have participated!

Already in 2005, the department has interacted with over 2,000 students and families during our booth and presentations during Aggieland Saturday, Texas A&M University’s annual open house program, held February 26th. Our booth hosted notable culinary delights such as cricket cookies – both chocolate chip and M&M; waxworm fritters; chocolate covered crickets; cricket trail mix; and mealworm curry. YUMMY! Students could also spin our “Wheel of Wonder” and answer trivia questions from categories such as: If you were an insect…; Who’s There?; Are you gonna eat that?; I’m not an insect but I play one on TV; Insect Detectives; and Fact or Fiction and enter their name in a drawing to win prizes from the department. We had displays of insects, including origami insects – ranging in completion time from 12 – 36 hours, and everyday products that are made from and/or with insects. This was a wonderful opportunity for our guests to learn that insects impact virtually everything they come into contact with on a daily basis! For a photo tour of the day, click here.  (See Adobe Viewer instructions in the sidebar at the right.)

But our outreach events don’t stop there! Upcoming events include a couple of career and college day programs, science family night at a local school, an entomology coaching clinic and practice judging test, the Houston Hispanic Forum Annual Career and Education Day, Texas Science Olympiad entomology contest, and the South Texas Career Expo in Kingsville. For the calendar of upcoming events, click here.

The outreach group, which includes ANYONE interested in participating in these types of activities, meets the third Tuesday each month during lunch to discuss ideas and upcoming activities. These meetings are brown bag format and are normally held in 413-414 Minnie Belle Heep Center. If you have any questions about the Department of Entomology’s outreach activities, please contact Rebecca Hapes.