Bug Camp

Update: 3/4/03
The BugCamp program is no longer an active program at The Field Museum. You can find out more about the history of the BugCamp program here.

7th, 8th, and 9th graders learn best through involvement. This is the philosophy behind BugCamp, a summer program where students immerse themselves in the insect world and discover scientific research first hand. This six-week summer course is taught at the Insect Division of Chicago's Field Museum. Dr. Bill Ballard, Head of the Insect Division and Pritzker Associate Curator, developed BugCamp at the museum.

BugCamp is successful. Students do real science under the guidance of Zeus Preckwinkle and Michael Pereira. Over six weeks, students learn about entomology and the scientific research that happens at the Field Museum. Students receive lectures from museum scientists and guest speakers. Lectures are followed by related laboratory exercises with Matt Dean. In the afternoons, students work on the Diptera database to help scientific research. One day a week, BugCampers head to Ryerson Woods to monitor insect diversity for conservation management.

BugCamp is funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Grant, Nancy Ryerson Ranney Leadership Grants, and the Field Museum Marshall Field Fund. BugCamp students and staff have been granted permission to collect and study insects at Ryerson Woods Conservation Area, in Deerfield, Illinois.