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Guest blog post by Dr. Kelly Carruthers, lead author of the research paper, ‘Use of insect specimens for Science Olympiad entomology exam in Georgia, USA,’ published in the open-access journal Natural History Collections and Museomics.
Ask any person around you, “how do you feel about insects?” and you’re likely to get a range of answers, most not so great. As entomologists, we’re always looking for new ways to do outreach and engage with the public at large, mostly so we can move the “feelings about insects” needle toward a little bit less icky.
Outreach can range from standalone events that we’re invited to all the way to large insect festivals that attract considerable audiences… like moths to flames. Occasionally, we do get asked to do something new and intriguing to reach a broader audience, and this time it was the Georgia Science Olympiad.
Science Olympiad is a non-profit organization founded in 1984 with the goal of increasing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) participation among students of primary and secondary grade levels in the United States. Science Olympiad boasts 23 different science-related events where groups of 2 -3 students participate and can earn awards by placing individually and/or as a team by combining scores.
Events range from testing to lab and build events, where students attempt to build the winning machine to the competition specifications. Additionally, Science Olympiad competitions rotate through a variety of field biology events, including Forestry, Herpetology, Ornithology, and Entomology …which is where I came in!
In 2024 and 2025, the Entomology rotation re-emerged, and the University of Georgia’s Department of Entomology was asked to participate in the organization and test writing for both high school and middle school divisions. Being ever excited to engage in new outreach opportunities, I jumped at the chance to participate.
Yash Sajjan and Vaishnavi Balaji, both students at the University of Georgia who participated in Science Olympiad in middle school and then dedicated themselves to organizing the event as university students, reached out to me to explain what they needed. Typically, entomology exams in other US states use photographs and images, but we decided that using real insect specimens would be much more impactful. Yash also told me he could write the exam easily, and as a point of pride (as both an entomologist and former educator), I let my ego win and offered to write the exam myself instead.
The exam consisted of 15 stations, 14 of which were real insect specimens and 1 that used a model of a bee or diagram of a grasshopper for the high school and middle school exams, respectfully. Each station had 4 – 7 questions that ranged from classification names to pest status to interesting behavioral aspects of the insect specimen, and students were given 50 minutes to complete the exam. For each exam, 9 – 10 insect orders were represented of the 29 listed on the 2025 National Entomology List put out by the Science Olympiad.
Because the Entomology exam was so successful, I was asked to help participate in the inaugural outreach day for Science Olympiad in Georgia which aimed to increase participation in Science Olympiad by providing demonstrations, activities, and resources for underserved counties in neighboring counties to University of Georgia.
Students and a teacher observe a Schmitt box with a variety of specimens during the Outreach Day for the Science Olympiad. Descriptions and meanings of the orders of insects are projected on the screen.
For this event, I was able to curate 23 of 29 insect orders and 70 of 100 families listed on the 2025 National Entomology List from a surplus collection from entomology coursework at UGA to show students. I worked to find either a specimen that exemplified the family or one that was extravagant enough to excite or interest students.
Overall, teachers, students, and the State Director for Science Olympiad were supportive and interested in using real insect specimens for the exam and outreach day. It gave students a chance to see an insect in 3-D beyond what an image can show.
Science Olympiad has the power to show students a variety of STEM fields and shape their future major choices and college experiences. Knowing this, entomologists and other professionals in STEM have a chance to engage with a group of often enthusiastic and interested students, encouraging them to see a new aspect of STEM and open their eyes to new experiences. In addition, the outreach day gave me a chance to connect with teachers which may gain confidence in the material, which directly impacts how students engage with and explore various topics. If as entomologists we bug teachers and students into appreciating a few bugs a bit more, then we’ve done our best work for outreach!
Original source
Carruthers K, Sajjan Y, Balaji V (2025) Use of insect specimens for Science Olympiad entomology exam in Georgia, USA. Natural History Collections and Museomics 2: 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.2.153727
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