Onward & Upward
I’ve spent 38 years in academia, including graduate school and post-doctoral work, all focused on entomology and pest management research. And 28 of those years were dedicated to teaching at Cal Poly.
A slew of past and current students at my retirement party. It was a perfect send off.
In this next phase, I’m taking my passion for teaching and moving it online to make entomology and wildlife information widely available to everyone.
Teaching is still what I do. Since retiring 7 months ago, I’ve given 6 talks: at the Eco Farm Conference in Asilomar, the Annual Pacific Southwest Dahlia Conference, the Wild Farm Alliance IPM webinar, twice for the Independent Grape Growers of Paso Robles Association, and training docents at the Santa Monica Mountains State Park.
Training the dedicated group of volunteers at the Santa Monica Mountains State park.
Blending Art and Science
Beyond the in-person presentations, this latest project - California Insect Science - lets me work from the comfort of my couch. I’m learning new ways to develop content delivery and I’m anxious to share the results with you. This at home/online format also allows me to spend plenty of time drawing, illustrating and photographing insects and other creatures.
Goliath beetle pencil sketch, in progress.
Art and photography are a big part of what I’ve always loved to do. In fact, early in my college career I was trying to decide between a career in art or science. My Mom, the pragmatist, bluntly stated that I would not be able to make a living and support myself or a family as an artist. So, me, the compliant only child, pursued a career in science. And I’ve loved every bit of it. But now, I get to immerse myself in art to help tell the stories of insects and other wildlife, and all the amazing things they do.
I have two projects that stem from this blending of art and science. I’m developing insect-based instructional materials for K-12 teachers. Additionally, some of my illustrations and photographs will be available as card sets and journals, and even a coloring book. The Etsy shop is coming soon.
The book bug logo for K-12 insect-based instructional materials, example of DH Designs© notecards, and the logo.
Next Steps: Online Learning
Building a website is more work than I imagined. I spent the better part of six months just working on the branding with illustrations of wasps, owls, graphic designs and looking for the perfect font. So. Many. Fonts. Who knew?
An early pencil sketch of Frieda the Wasp and the final logo for California Insect Science.
UAll this work is geared towards having a quality education website for the two components, California Insect Science and California Wildlife Management, delivering 100% original content for professionals and home gardeners.
The information I provide will expand beyond the lens of pest management, because as my students know, I provided healthy doses of biology in my classes. I believe that understanding biology is what gives us insights and understanding, even empathy, for organisms we encounter in our lives. As such, there will be educational modules on fundamental entomology concepts like classification, anatomy, physiology, behavior, reproduction and ecology. For our wildlife friends, I’ll have modules on their biology, behavior, ecology and social interactions.
While the full website is still under construction, I’m hoping these blogs will be fun and informative precursors of what’s to come.
Next Up - Pollinators
The next blog will be about pollinators. It’s an ideal subject to showcase the complex interactions between humans and six-legged creatures. It's challenging to make good choices when there are conflicting issues. Education is the key to better understanding and better understanding leads to better decisions. So check out the next post.
Thanks for reading Two: Four: Six!
