History of Utah Bug Club!

About Me

 

As the 2003 president of the Utah Lepidopterists' Society, I had a concern that our members were growing older without replenishing ourselves with young ones.  Many of us noticed that kids weren't connecting with nature as much as they used to because of many added responsibilities combined with growingly clever technological advances and distractions. 

During the spring of 2004, I had the opportunity of becoming friends with Paul Laemmlen and Ann Laemmlen Lewis from Cedar Hills and Orem, Utah, who recommended that I put together a bug club to teach their kids and many of their neighbor's kids about finding, collecting, and raising butterflies and moths.  It sounded like a great idea considering I had a lot of experience teaching the Insect Study Merit Badge as a Scoutmaster for my local troop.  So, I decided to put together some basic classes, build a simple website, and have fun with kids.

Soon thereafter, I had the opportunity of becoming good friends with Vernon Evans whose passion for moths and teaching home-school kids created an incredible synergy with my enthusiasm for teaching kids about butterflies.  Vernon was invaluable as he helped teach Utah Bug Club classes and field trips in 2005 and 2006 before he and his family moved out of state.  There are many photos of Vernon and his children Auvi, Kelby, Conner, and Zoē sprinkled throughout the site.

In 2010, as a member-at-large of The Lepidopterists' Society, I became involved in discussions with the Executive Council that were very similar to our 2003 Utah Lepidopterists' Society dialogue about hooking up kids with nature.  These discussions lead to a natural connection with Robert Michael Pyle's, "The Outernet Project"; designed to provide kids with butterfly nets.  My vision was not only to provide butterfly nets for kids, but also to reach out to other regional entities who were already teaching kids either in the classroom, in the field, or both. I therefore volunteered and became the project manager of The Outernet Project where Utah Bug Club and West Michigan Butterfly Association became the first two organizations to actively participate in 2011. We are looking to hook up with more regional groups in 2012!

Please contact me if you have any questions or thoughts.

Todd Stout

 

 

 

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