Bug Camp Where Every Day's an Adventure

Welcome to Bug Camp, where every day is full of crawly, fascinating adventure! Grab your nets, because catching crickets and butterflies is just the beginning.

Every summer, entomologists around the world offer bug camps to kids, hoping to share the wonders of insects with the next generation of explorers and creative thinkers. Now, biologists Tim Forrest and Jen Hamel bring their decades of bug camp experience to a book filled with games, experiments, cool facts, stories, and good, old-fashioned fun. Rain or shine, indoors and out, Bug Camp is filled with adventures and wonder.

Discover insect mouth parts that chew, siphon, pierce, and absorb and antennae that smell and hear. Learn how to identify crickets and katydids from their songs and how to find firefly signals and honeybee waggle dances. Collect caterpillars, and watch them morph into butterfliesand moths. Go on scavenger hunts to find cool predators, prey, and parasites. Conduct experiments and collect Citizen Science data. With hundreds of insect photos from around the world and millions of real insects in every neighborhood, kids will never get bored with Bug Camp. Start packing!

Tim Forrest, PhD, a biology professor at the University of North Carolina Asheville, teaches animal behavior, entomology, invertebrate zoology, and other biology courses. He has won university-wide recognition for excellence in teaching and has spent many summers conducting bug camps for kids. Forrest earned a BS in biology and mathematics from Florida Southern College, and masters and doctorate degrees in entomology from the University of Florida. He was a postdoctoral research associate in neurobiology and behavior at Cornell University and a research scientist at the National Center for Physical Acoustics. Forrest's passion for science and discovery began during childhood adventures in Florida, where he grew up. He lives in Asheville, NC.

Jen Hamel, PhD, is a biology professor at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina, where she teaches biodiversity, population biology, animal behavior, and invertebrate biology. Hamel earned a BHA in art and russian studies from Carnegie Mellon University and her PhD in biological sciences at the University of Missouri. She was a postdoctoral research associate in entomology at the University of Florida. Hamel studies mate choice, collective behavior, and how interactions between species affect the evolution of behavior. Hamel's love of nature and science began during her childhood, when she explored the woods and streams of New York State. She lives in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.