Skepticism

Support a project to make TV science better!

I wanted to alert you all to a cool new science education project you can support and participate in! From The Bug Chicks:

Follow us as we film the incredible insects and spiders of America! This coast-to-coast journey will take place with a vintage sofa that will be placed in different ecosystems across the country. At each stop we will inspire you to “get off the couch” to explore America’s backyard wilderness and the most diverse animals on the planet….
We specialize in fun, quirky educational videos. Nature programming has been leaning toward fear and myth lately, which we find alarmingly sad. The natural world is mind-blowing; we don’t really need to embellish it.”

PREACH IT SISTERS.  I am so tired of Fear TV.  Or, completely made up TV.
And! This series contains actual science education content!

“For this show, we’re partnering with Project Noah, an app supported by National Geographic. It makes this expedition truly interactive; people can upload pictures of insects and other arthropods found along the route. We will live-blog and tweet related behind-the-scenes clips, how-to videos, and additional content through Project Noah and NPR’s Science Friday website during the five week expedition.”

Sofa Safari

One of the questions they ask in their campaign is: “Where are all the women on television/web who are smart, funny and kind to each other?”  I would edit that to read “Where are all the women on nature television?”  For some reason science TV is a sausage fest. You can help fix that, and you can help change the perception that all the “cool” animals are deep in the ocean or away in a rainforest, where most US kids can’t see them.  Please throw your money at these women.  

By the way, for the really modest price of $500 you can get your favorite school teacher a Bug Workshop!!

$500 Level Perk: Skype/in-person Bug Chicks workshop for a school of your choice. We’ll spend an hour teaching about the awesome bugs of America and what it’s like to be an entomologist! Plus, we’ll add a DVD set of the show after post-production concludes! Workshop type dependent on school location. Please contact us directly to schedule. This makes a great gift for a school/program for kids in need!

I am still in-between jobs so I can’t contribute as much as I want, but I hope some of you can pitch in at least a little.

Bug_girl

Bug_girl has a PhD in Entomology, and is a pointy-headed former academic living in Ohio. She is obsessed with insects, but otherwise perfectly normal. Really! If you want a daily stream of cool info about bugs, follow her Facebook page or find her on Twitter.

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4 Comments

  1. This is awesome. I’ve donated $250. As a 52+ year old privileged white male in the computer industry I am dismayed at how few women I see scheduled for interviews for engineering jobs at my company. Let alone for positions as scientists. I hope my tiny donation helps fix that situation.

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