A university’s massive open online course on entomology and one researcher’s dedication to sharing insect science in her native language earned honors in the Entomological Society of America’s second annual award recognizing excellence in science communication.

In September, the Entomological Society of America announced the honorees of its 2022 professional and student awards, and among them were the recipients of the second annual ESA Science Communication Award.

In case you missed it in 2021, the Science Communication Award is the successor to ESA’s “YouTube Your Entomology” Contest, which concluded after 12 years in 2020. With a broader scope, the award aims to “honor impactful and innovative communication projects or programs that engage diverse public audiences with entomology-related scientific information,” and eligible formats range from articles and videos to education programs, social media, or exhibitions.

This year’s honorees showcase excellent examples of transforming entomological research into formats accessible to non-expert audiences—one on a truly broad scale while the other is more targeted (though entailing literal translation into another language).

All of ESA’s award honorees will be showcased during the 2022 Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Societies of America, Canada, and British Columbia, November 13-16, in Vancouver. Recently, Entomology Today spoke with the entomologists behind the 2022 Science Communication Award’s first-place and runner-up projects to get their expert insights on making an impact in science communication. The Q&A’s below have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

First Place

Bugs 101 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
Maya Evenden, Ph.D., University of Alberta

Provided via a massive open online course (MOOC) format, Bugs 101 is free to all learners with an internet connection in over 130 countries. It includes interviews from a diversity of 26 experts in a variety of fields that appear in nine of the 12 modules, as well as interactive features to make the content more engaging for online learners. (Image courtesly of Maya Evenden, Ph.D.)

Since its launch in mid-2019, the Bugs 101 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) offered by the University of Alberta has reached about 35,000 learners in more than 130 countries. Massive indeed!

A cross-departmental effort led by UA professor of biological sciences Maya Evenden, Ph.D., the course was developed over four year and includes 12 modules on topics related to insects and their impacts on human society. Each includes several video lessons with closed captioning, accompanying notes, additional readings and activities, and a short quiz. The course is made available for free to anyone with an internet connection through the MOOC provider Coursera.

The impact of the course has reached beyond just the learners who have participated. As one colleague at the University of Alberta explains, Bugs 101 “became my personal model for online teaching during the pandemic. During the summer of 2020, I carefully studied the structure and approach in Bugs 101, to determine what lessons it might offer for a general approach to the online challenge. It quickly became apparent that the course was very well thought-out, in terms of the tone, pacing, and length of the video lectures, the level of detail involved, and the overall approach to visual communication. … Bugs 101 is not merely a good example of online education (of the sort that seemed very innovative before the pandemic); it is also an excellent exemplar of how to approach online teaching now that faculty everywhere are being asked to do exactly that.”

Entomology Today: What inspired you to launch this project?

Maya Evenden, Ph.D.

Evenden: The University of Alberta is a leader in MOOC development and online education. Our team realized that there was a niche to be filled, as no general entomology MOOC existed before the creation of Bugs 101. Our course was motivated by a desire to develop a widely available course that engages and educates learners about the roles (beneficial and harmful) that insects and other arthropods play in human society. This course is accessible, as it is available for free to anyone with access to the internet.

How have you measured its success? And was there a moment or experience that made you realize you were making an impact?

Primarily, we have used metrics provided by the Coursera MOOC platform to measure our success. Initially, we gathered data about learner access to the course material from Coursera at two and four months post-launch (August and October 2019). The course was noticed by learners quickly, as there were 22,910 unique visits two months post-launch, and this increased to 31,792 unique visits two months later. At two months post-launch, more than 5,600 students were enrolled, and by four months post-launch more than 6,800 learners were enrolled. Currently, at three years post-launch, there are 36,924 learners enrolled in the course, and 4,047 learners have completed the 12 module course.

It was also extremely rewarding to read all the wonderful reviews posted by students from all over the world. As of the end of August 2022, Bugs 101 has received 1,152 star ratings, with an average star rating of 4.9 out of 5. We have received written reviews from 501 learners from around the world. A couple of the recent comments include:

“As a seventy-five year old retiree I truly enjoyed the course! It was something I always was interested in and just wanted to see and learn more about the wonderful world of insects. I would enjoy another course dealing more specifically on identification of insects if possible. Thank you for a great experience!”

“Exceptional way to begin learning about entomology! Based on life happening, it took me 3 years from the day I started to complete Bugs 101. Thank you for the allowance of adjustment to timeframes. A big thank you to everyone involved in the teaching and filming of this course as it kept my interest over the years. Between the start and finish of this course, I observed and recorded 1,450 Arthropods and 475 species were identified by experts and posted to my online iNaturalist account. This course was instrumental along the way as a basic understanding of Entomology.”

We also measured success through interest from the media upon the launch of the project. Within days of the course launch, Bugs101 was featured in 13 media stories (e.g., TV, radio, printed news). It also resulted in the creation of a regular segment on the local Edmonton CBC news, which features weekly snippets on local entomological knowledge. This attention made us realize that the science communication achieved through our course impacted both our local community and the global community of learners. Bugs 101 was also recognized for the quality of the production through a “Best Online Course” award from Digital Alberta’s 2019 Ember Awards.

What are your guiding principles or philosophies for your science communication efforts overall?

Overall, we are interested in engagement of learners and accessibility of entomological content to diverse learners. Many people are not aware of the importance of insects to human society, and some people are afraid of insects. The MOOC format allowed our course to be accessible (it’s free!) to all learners with an internet connection in over 130 countries. We also incorporated interactive aspects to the course to make the content more engaging for online learners. Bugs 101 includes interviews from a diversity of 26 experts in a variety of fields that appear in nine of the 12 modules. Integrated learning objects (small, interactive web apps) were developed to allow the learners to interact directly with the material through gamification in the online course. Our final guiding principle is enthusiasm for entomology, which we hope shines through in our course.

What’s your advice for fellow scientists looking to build their public-engagement skills?

Insects are important, and it is important to spread the word about our reliance on insects as humans. This can be achieved in many ways, but entomologists have an opportunity to share their interest, knowledge, and love for insects with the public and should be encouraged to do so!

Runner-Up

Entomological News for Hebrew Speakers
Maya Saar, Ph.D., University of Florida

Maya Saar, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in entomology at the University of Florida began writing for Israel’s Little Big Science three years ago, authoring original stories on insect science in Hebrew. “I jumped at this empty niche, an opportunity to tell incredible insect stories to my community in Hebrew, and the reaction was so rewarding, so I kept going!” she says. (Screenshot)

Perhaps in contrast to the scope of a MOOC—but none the less aimed at bringing insect science to communities that might not otherwise get it—Maya Saar’s writing and editing for Israel’s Little Big Science delivers news and stories on entomology for Hebrew-speaking audiences worldwide.

Native to Israel, Saar is a postdoctoral researcher specializing in invasive little fire ants (Wasmannia auropunctata) at the University of Florida, but she writes stories on a range of entomology topics in Hebrew for Little Big Science, published via its website and its social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. Her motivation as a science communicator to serve her fellow Hebrew speakers is simple, she says. “While some Israelis do not have full control of the English language, it is hard to expect of those that do, to read a scientific article in English.”

After Saar served a couple years as a writer, the directors at Little Big Science elevated her to a scientific editor role with the site last year. In their recommendation of her work, they write, “We believe that she is one of the best science communicators in Israel today. The fact that she is able to volunteer in such a demanding capacity while being a postdoctoral fellow speaks volumes to the place she gives to science communication.”

Entomology Today: What inspired you to launch this project?

Maya Saar, Ph.D.

Saar: The nonprofit organization I help lead today, Little Big Science, looked for new writers about three years ago. I looked at the authors list and could not find any entomologists. I was shocked because the best stories come from entomological science! I assumed the public knows very little on insects, if at all, and I was 100 percent sure there are no other sources for insect stories in Hebrew. These organisms are less likely to draw attention, definitely in comparison with charismatic animals that resemble humans or human behavior (large mammals such as monkeys, elephants, etc.). So, I jumped at this empty niche, an opportunity to tell incredible insect stories to my community in Hebrew, and the reaction was so rewarding, so I kept going!

How have you measured its success? And was there a moment or experience that made you realize you were making an impact?

I measure the success of my articles with the number of people they have reached in social media and number of reactions and comments. Comments are actually the fun part. I like interacting with the crowd. Sometimes we sail to mind-blowing discussions, and sometimes I even have to defend my claims fiercely! There are plenty of smart folks out there that for many reasons may not have had the chance to participate in academia. The first time I felt like I was making an impact was when a young woman entomologist reached out to me with advice on how to advance her career with popular science writing.

What are your guiding principles or philosophies for your science communication efforts overall?

Be honest. Say “I don’t know” when you don’t know. No one knows everything, and it makes others feel comfortable when you don’t know either. This may open discussions and literature search to find answers together.

Also, I prefer to use simple words and explanations. Complex writing might make you (the writer) feel smart, but others who read it might feel a lot less smart and perhaps frustrated. The idea is to draw the crowd to read something interesting and receive new knowledge. In the fierce competition of knowledge flow in the social media era, you need to be extra conspicuous. But never at the expense of scientific accuracy. This is a delicate balance that can be overcome with experience and with advice from good science-communicator friends!

What’s your advice for fellow scientists looking to build their public-engagement skills?

A question I get asked a lot is about how I find time for science communication. Like a lot of researchers, I too suffer stress and work overload sometimes. Well, science communication is my relief place—or, should I say, hiding place? When I feel I cannot do anything else, when I don’t have motivation or I’m tired of the scientific language in articles, I write a fun article on an insect topic that interests me and interact with the public. This often sparks the love of what I do once more!