Register for upcoming programs and events for Big Year of Bugs!

Celebrate bugs with us at the following featured events throughout the Park District! Stay tuned for more details.

• April 27: The Art and Sport of Fly Fishing at Silverwood Park
• June 28: Exploration in Evening Bugs at Silverwood Park
• July 13: Dragonfly Festival at Eastman Nature Center in Elm Creek Park Reserve
• August 3: Summer Pollinator Fest at Gale Woods Farm 
• September 14: Bugs, Blankets and Bluegrass at Richardson Nature Center in Hyland Lake Park Reserve

Celebrate the extraordinary world of insects while unleashing your creative spirit! Art and science harmoniously intersect to create connections that explore the beauty of insects, their amazing abilities, and their ecological significance. 

Stay tuned for more information!

• October 3: Insects and Weaving at Silverwood Park
• October 12: Fall Galls and Ink Making at Eastman Nature Center in Elm Creek Park Reserve
• November 3: Felted Insect Ornament at Gale Woods Farm 
• November 24: Amateur Photography Show & Inspired by Insects Reception at Eastman Nature Center in Elm Creek Park Reserve
• December 7: Paper Wasps and Paper Making at Silverwood Park
• December 7: Decorate a Native Bee House at Lowry Nature Center in Carver Park Reserve
   

We kicked off the year with two visits per month from a different Minnesota entomology expert. Learn more about the different sessions below and check out the recordings on our Speaker Series YouTube playlist.

Topics & Speakers

• January 7: Spider Diversity 
  Learn about the vast diversity of spiders with Chad Heins, associate professor of biology at Bethany Lutheran College. Chad collects and identifies spiders around Minnesota in order to better understand different species' distribution in the state.
• January 28: Butterfly Introductions
  Learn how butterflies are reintroduced into native habitats with John Moriarty, senior wildlife manager at Three Rivers Park District. John restores and manages wildlife habitats, and has reintroduced a variety of creatures into Minnesota, including regal fritillary butterflies.
• February 4: Tree-Boring Beetles 
  Learn about beetles that can bore into tree branches, twigs and trunks, and how they can affect forest health and tree health, with Dan Comerford, forestry supervisor at Three Rivers Park District. Dan plans reforestation plantings, oversees the tree-pruning program, and manages forest insect and disease outbreaks.
• February 18: Mosquitos — Good and Bad
  Learn about the positives and negatives of mosquitos in Minnesota with Alex Carlson, public affairs manager, and Nancy Read, data systems coordinator, both at Metro Mosquito Control District, which conducts mosquito research and helps manage mosquitos in the Twin Cities area.
• March 3: Insect Diversity
  Learn about Minnesota's insect diversity with Robin Thomson, curator of the insect collection at the University of Minnesota's entomology department. Robin maintains the university's vast collection of insects, adding new insect specimens or updating database information.
• March 17: Indigenous Relationships with Insects
  Learn about indigenous perspective on bugs with Hope Flanagan, community outreach and cultural teacher at Dream of Wild Health, an intertribal, independent nonprofit that serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul Native American community. Hope helps restore health and well-being in the Native community by recovering knowledge of and access to healthy Indigenous foods, medicines and lifeways.