@ issue : insects

In the fall of 2016, all students enrolled in The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee’s (UWM) Peck School of the Arts (PSOA), Art and Design, 3D Concepts class were tasked with the responsibility of researching the ecological and economic importance of insects and their current decline, working to build and design ‘insect motels’ to be shown at the Lakeshore State Park and de-stalled for permanent installation along The Hank Aaron State Trail and other parks and trails within the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

In doing preliminary research for what was going to be a more standard, run of the mill birdhouse project, kathryn e. martin-meurer was stopped in her tracks upon being made aware of the world’s drastically declining insect population. “Insects, worms and other small animals that carry out vital functions for life on earth have declined by 45% on average over 35 years, threatening human health, water quality and food supplies” (Steve Connor, “Vital invertebrates decline by 45 %, study finds”, independent.co.uk, July 2014.).

martin-meurer, together with Thomas Kroeger and Melissa Cook of the WI DNR, and the students of UWM’s PSOA 3D Concepts class will use the “insect motels” to first, engage the public, and then, educate them on our findings. This project is proud to be a recipient of the 2016 “Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin’s C.D. Besadny Conservation Grant Program.”

UWM PSOA Faculty: Ray Chi, kathryn e. martin-meurer, Dr. Elizabeth Rex and Stephanie Voegele.

For more information, please contact kathryn e. martin-meurer at martinke@uwm.edu

 

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