Both science and art offer us new ways of seeing bugs. By observing and understanding bugs better, can we improve their and our future?
There are 6 million bug species on earth. Its health and ours depends on them. Yet bugs are vulnerable globally – 40% of species are in decline.
So much of their suffering is not only because of environmental and climate change, but as a result of human cruelty and indifference.
And yet with proper care, they can nurture the world in so many ways.
Speakers and topics are:
Each speaker will discuss their own work for about 10 minutes and offer some suggestions as to how we can all contribute to the health of bugs around our planet
Marcel Dicke, Professor of entomology, Wageningen, Netherlands, on bugs as food, and also his interest in bugs in art
Cornelia Hesse-Honegger: science-artist, Switzerland, on her long-term art project and research into the malformations suffered by true bugs as a result of nuclear radiation
Alison Turnbull: artist, UK, on her research into butterflies in Colombia and moths in Norfolk, and her artistic approaches to their representation.
Arno van Berge Henegouwen: biologist, Netherlands, on his developing interest in wildlife photography and the challenges posed by bugs in his scientific work on taxonomy. To know your bugs is a key to a better understanding of nature.
Paul Hetherington: scientist, UK, on the charity Buglife’s approach to creating bug-habitat continuity via B-lines and the science behind them.
