Discover the Vermont Entomology Academy, inspiring curiosity and connection through insect observation and hands-on learning.
V.E.A., founded by Bernie Paquette in 2025, connects people with nature through the fascinating world of insects. From summer bug observations to mobile outreach, the Academy helps learners of all ages discover the joy and importance of insects in our ecosystems.
🪲 Vermont Entomology Academy
Welcome to the Vermont Entomology Academy — where curiosity takes flight!
Explore our current and developing programs below.
VEA: Curious Connected Alive
🌿 Mission = why we exist
To spark curiosity, build confidence, and strengthen connections to nature through insect-focused observation and learning.
To promote the value of community-science observations for conservation and for monitoring ecosystem health.
To express an identity that is fun, exploratory, and grounded in the natural world.
🧭 Goals = what we want to achieve
Inspire curiosity, confidence, and connection with the overlooked creatures that keep ecosystems thriving.
Promote “inverting” — the joy of observing and learning about invertebrates, especially insects.
Encourage community-science participation so more people contribute meaningful insect observations.
Foster a culture of wonder that motivates people of all ages to explore, notice, and care for the natural world.
🔍 Objectives = what participants will learn/do
Through Academy programs, participants will:
Understand the vital roles insects play in ecosystems and in human life.
Explore ecosystem connections — the physical and functional relationships that support biodiversity and resilience.
Learn the fundamentals of entomology: anatomy, diversity, life cycles, and lifestyles.
Experience the joy of observing insects in their natural habitats.
Use iNaturalist to document, identify, and share observations (and become familiar with other entomological resources, including museum collections).
Practice using essential field tools — nets, magnifiers, and guidebooks — to investigate insects up close.
Develop keen observation and identification skills, deepening appreciation for nature’s details.
Cultivate a sense of awe for the small, complex, interconnected beauty of the insect world.
Recognize insects as living beings with needs: finding food, seeking shelter, avoiding danger, and striving to thrive as individuals and species.
You don’t need to know the science of insects to be amazed by them —
But learning a little makes the wonder grow even more.
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🐞 Vermont Entomology Academy Programs
Bug Huggers Adventure Camp
🚐 BUGmobile
🦋 Bug & Bird Safari
🐜 Bug Safari | At Your Yard
💧 Incredible Workshop: “Life Begins in Water”
Currently in the brainstorming stage, this workshop will explore aquatic insects and their essential role in ecosystems.
🎪 The Great Vermont Insect Fair
Another exciting idea in development, this event will celebrate insects with exhibits, demonstrations, and hands-on activities for all ages.
Presentations
📅 Locations Community Center in Jericho: February day and time tbd
When Birds Meet Bugs: How One Yard Became a Wildlife Haven (5-minute Lightning talk)
Yard Highlights:
Have you ever wondered what is living in your yard? Bernie will show photos and discuss some of his findings from a 1.3-acre Jericho yard, including some uncommon and even a few firsts for Vermont (40 minutes).
Spencer Hardy (Vermont Center for Eco Studies Biologist and of the Farm Upstream will present highlights from the research paper he helped write:
"New Vermont Bee Checklist and Conservation Rankings Published".
The study, led by researchers from VCE, in collaboration with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department and experts from across the continent, provides the first comprehensive faunal list and conservation assessment of Vermont’s wild bees. A decade-long study published this month found that 352 wild bee species call Vermont home. The bad news is that 60% of those species are likely in need of conservation action. But the good news is that with this study, we've taken a crucial step toward protecting them. (45 minutes).
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🦋 Moth Night
📍 Locations TBD Date: Week of 7/18-7/26, 2026
In the planning Stage,
“Lights, Sheets & Wings: Vermont Entomology Academy Moth Week Celebration 2026”
Discover the magic of nighttime biodiversity! Join us after dark for moth-watching, light-sheet exploration, and guided observation with Vermont Entomological Academy and Vermont Entomological Society naturalists.______________________________________________________________✨ Firefly Night📍 The Farm Upstream, Lee River Road, Jericho, Vt. Date between mid-June and mid-July“Glow & Wonder: Vermont Entomology Academy Firefly Discovery Evening 2026”Experience the sparkle of summer nights! Learn about firefly communication, watch their bioluminescent displays, and enjoy guided twilight exploration with VEA naturalists.____________________________________________________________
🌻 Get Involved: Join the Vermont Entomology Academy
🦋 Moth Night
📍 Locations TBD Date: Week of 7/18-7/26, 2026
In the planning Stage,
“Lights, Sheets & Wings: Vermont Entomology Academy Moth Week Celebration 2026”
🌻 Get Involved: Join the Vermont Entomology Academy
The Vermont Entomology Academy is recruiting!
We’re looking for passionate individuals who want to help grow our mission of inspiring curiosity and connection through insects.
We welcome:
🧑🎓 College students
👩🏫 Educators
🔬 Biologists & Ecologists
🎨 Artists & Naturalists
🌎 And other enthusiastic “ists” who love science, nature, and community engagement!
We currently have openings for:
Board of Directors
Steering Committee
Planning and Working Groups
One-Time Presenters
Lab and Field Facilitators
📩 Interested in joining us?
Please contact us to learn how you can get involved with the Vermont Entomology Academy.
Our organization is being built on passion, shared leadership*, and the belief that everyone has something meaningful to contribute. There is a place for you.
* Everyone has the power to shape things. The leader’s role then focuses on facilitating shared decision-making and supporting others. A community leader facilitates people who are there by choice. Leadership essentially becomes about facilitating co-creation circles and deep listening.
A hybrid approach between centralized and decentralized leadership may sometimes be needed.
- Leadership by proposal: The community leader is the group’s main resolver of ambiguity.
- Leadership by invitation: The community leader’s role is to proactively and personally invite people to contribute.
- Leadership by role-modeling: The power of a community leader to shape culture and embody a group’s values.
🌼 Join the Movement - bring to the table whatever you are good at!
The Vermont Entomology Academy welcomes all curious minds — students, families, educators, and lifelong learners — to explore the fascinating world of insects.
Because when we pay attention to the small things,
We begin to understand the big picture of life on Earth.
Vermont Entomology Academy offers insect learning experiences from your yard to public parks; entomology and invertebrate education for kids in classrooms at schools, libraries, churches, and other meeting places.
🕹️ Connections Game Grid: Insect Edition
Here’s a Connections-style game grid (like The New York Times Connections) using insect anatomy and basic entomology terms. Your task (or your students’ task) is to group the 16 words into four sets of four related terms. Each group has a common theme related to insect anatomy or entomology.
Group 1 – Body Parts (External Anatomy):
Group 3 – Structural / Protective Features:
Group 4 – Respiration & Reproduction:
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Reflections on Wonder, Place, and Paying Attention
"The greatest human discoveries in the future will be the discovery of human intimacy with all those other modes of being that live with us on this planet…"
—Thomas Berry, The Great Work
"If you want to feel new, alive, full of fresh hope, and in love with the world, the place to visit may be your backyard."
—paraphrased from Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar.” ~Bradley Miller
And from a somewhat unexpected source:
"If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with."
—Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz
The message is the same across science, spirituality, and story:
Look closely. Look often. Look where you stand.
You might discover something uncommon.
VEA Framework for Development
- Online courses endorsed by iNaturalist in entomology, taxonomy, and photography
- Photographers and amateur community scientists on iNaturalist are often interested in refining their skills and expanding their knowledge.
- Book recommendations and links to external resources and synergistic online portals such as BugGuide.net
- Enhancing photographic skills for iNaturalist (crop photos, take sharper images, and multiple angles...
- Broaden and build on iNaturalist advocates, who currently promote iNaturalist, to carry out the vital role in encouraging more taxonomists to enter the community. (extracted from Callaghan et al. 2022). "It is generally accepted that the number of undescribed insect species is at least as large as the number of described species…” (Warburton, P. J., Ascher, et al. 2025)
- Create a list of Vermont taxa that require identification based on features that photographs are never likely to show.
- Recruit and increase insect ID experts.
- Develop, sponsor, or support projects that focus on areas lacking in observations for taxa in general or for specific taxa.
- Also, focus on the wide insect-to-flower interaction (cover as many flowering plants as possible). List Floral Resources to Target.
- Develop a local Community of Practice for iNaturalist use, observation, photo, collection, and other invertebrate study techniques.
- "A Community of Practice is a working group of a community of stakeholders, based on ideas by Lave and Wegner (1991) about community learning and development. The constituents of a Community of Practice group would be influential or senior representatives of each of the stakeholder communities with an objective to formulate actionable strategies for improving the use of iNaturalist..." ((Warburton, P. J., Ascher, et al. 2025).
