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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If your child loves bugs, it’s time to register for the seventh annual UF Entomology Field Camp organized by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Whether your child craves the critters for their creepiness or is beginning to develop a “Big Bang Theory”-like interest in insects as a potential field of study – or is somewhere in between — he or she may well enjoy the experience. Many campers return year after year, organizers say. This year’s camp has been dubbed the “Bug Club.”
The camp, open to rising fifth through ninth-graders, is held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., daily from June 20-24, at the UF/IFAS entomology and nematology department at Steinmetz Hall on the UF campus. This year, organizers plan to include more insect-collecting trips, weather permitting, said Rebecca Baldwin, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of entomology.
“We are calling this year’s camp the Bug Club and will have a talk about global issues relating to entomology,” Baldwin said. Campers can “Go around the World in 80 Bugs” when they visit the teaching lab with exotic insects from around the world. Campers will also have the opportunity to collect insects and create their own collection, which can be entered in the 4-H Insect Collection Competition.
The camp costs $175 per person. But there’s $25 discount if the same family sends multiple campers. That cuts the cost to $150 per participant.
If you’re a former camper and are now in high school, you may register for the camp as a junior leader. Please indicate that when you register. The cost for junior leaders will be $125 per person. Junior leaders can tour the UF campus and visit some of the research labs within the entomology department.
As in previous years, once your camper has been registered and payment received, you will receive a message asking you to register your camper through 4-H online. This confirms that your camper will be on campus, and it notifies UF of their participation in an on-campus youth event. Please visit http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/bug_club/camp.htm for registration forms. The camp is limited to 30 participants, so be sure to register soon.
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Caption: A UF/IFAS insect camp participant collects specimens on the banks of the Santa Fe River.
Credit: Tyler Jones, UF/IFAS photography.
By: Brad Buck, 352-294-3303, bradbuck@ufl.edu
Source: Rebecca Baldwin, 352-273-3974, baldwinr@ufl.edu
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