Outreach
I am very interested in outreach about the diversity and importance of ants, bees, and wasps in our lives. To this end, I have done outreach
in various fields, mostly centered around pollination.
I currently volunteer at the Pollinatarium. In the fall, 2nd grade students within the Champaign and Urbana school
systems are required to visit the Pollinatarium, and I assist with the outdoor portion of their visit, including instruction in how to capture insects, how to transfer
live insects to viewing containers, how to identify caught insects, and how to safely observe and release these insects.
I also assist with National Pollinator Week in Champaign-Urbana during the month of June. In the summer of 2012, I assisted with advertisement
and led a workshop on how to identify common native bees to genus. Around 20 community members came to the workshop, and were thrilled to hear about the importance
of native bees and have their questions answered about locally abundant native bees.
As part of the Department of Entomology, I volunteer at the Entomology Graduate Student Association's (EGSA's)
annual Insect Fear Film Festival. In 2012 and 2013, I was the head of the public relations section, including the writing of press releases, the printing and design of
fliers and posters, and the coordination of students and local media outlets to promote the event. In addition to these duties, I also helped out at the
insect petting zoo, as well as T-shirt sales and face painting.
