Workshops & Classes
Conserving Native Pollinators
The vast majority of agricultural, home, and native plants depend on insect pollinators. Native bees, including bumble bees, sweat bees, and leaf-cutting bees, are among the most important pollinators in our region—especially now that diseases have decimated domesticated honey bees.
Dr. Faith Kuehn, an entomologist with the Delaware Department of Agriculture, will provide tips on how to identify native bees and promote native bee conservation in your own garden. You will also make and take home a nest box for these important pollinators.
Dr. Kuehn has managed native bee surveys in Delaware’s vegetable production areas and has worked with farmers and landowners to implement pollinator conservation practices.
- Saturday, April 10, 1:30–4:30 pm
- $20/members; $30/non-members (admission included)
- Space is limited to 25 participants. Call 215-299-1060 to register.
Insect Field Study
Join the Academy's Greg Cowper and Karen Verderame for a field study at the Franklin Parker Preserve in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
You will participate in an on going Academy survey of insects in this region. You can help with the set-up of sampling traps and other methods of collection for identification. In the process, you will become familiar with common Pine Barrens insects, basic insect collecting techniques, and the role insects play in the ecology of this unique ecosystem.
Greg Cowper, a Curatorial Assistant in the Entomology Department, has completed field work in New Zealand, Africa, the Caribbean, and the eastern and southwestern United States. His research interests are in the systematics, evolution, and biogeography of Heteroptera (true bugs). Karen Verderame, the Academy's Live Invertebrate Specialist, has studied and worked with live insects and other invertebrates for 21 years.
- Saturday, May 8, 10 am – 4 pm
- $35/members; $40/non-members
- Space is limited to 25 participants. Call 215-299-1060 to register.
- Details will be sent to you after registration; including the meeting location, appropriate dress and gear, etc.
Electrofishing Field Study
Join Academy fisheries scientists on an electrofishing study in a local stream. If you're fishing with rod and reel, you'd probably be lucky to catch five fish in an hour. On this trip we could observe and identify several hundred!
Participate in this method of catch and release used by our scientists to study wild fish populations. You may take part in the water with waders or on the bank by netting, caring for captured fish or recording data. Leave with an understanding of local stream ecology, and gain experience in identifying game and non-game fish as well as other aquatic animals. Leave with an understanding of local stream ecology, and gain experience in identifying game and non-game fish as well as other aquatic animals.
The field leader, Paul Overbeck, is a Fisheries Staff Scientist in the Academy’s Patrick Center for Environmental Research. He has over 25 years experience in field collection, identification, and analyses of freshwater and marine specimens from throughout the United States.
- Saturday, June 26, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
- $25/members; $30/non-members
- Space is limited to 20 participants. Call 215-299-1060 to register.
- Details will be sent to you after registration; including the meeting location, appropriate dress and gear, etc.
The Bugs Behind Bug Fest: Exploring the Diversity of Insects
Want to get more out of Bug Fest? Want to learn more about the incredible variety of insects? This class will explore the diversity of insects and related arthropods and examine some of the features that make insects one of the most successful group of animals on earth. You will learn about the major groups of insects to aid recognition in nature with emphasis on local species. Class will be enhanced by the use of many of the 3.5 million specimens housed in the Academy's entomology collection.
Dr. Jon Gelhaus, the Academy’s Curator of Entomology, will lead this class. He is an expert on the systematics, biogeography, and ecology of crane flies (Tipuloidea).
- Tuesday, August 3, 6–9 pm (was August 10)
- $25/members; $30/non-members
- Space is limited to 20 participants. Call 215-299-1060 to register.