An Alumna Returns to the Bohart Museum of Entomology

UC Davis alumna Stephanie Dole, perhaps better known as  "Dr. Beetlelady," returned to UC Davis to table at the  Bohart Museum of Entomology open house.

Dole, a UC Davis alumna, entomologist, science communicator, photographer and author of the newly published children's book, Bug Power, fielded scores of questions at the three-hour open house.

 "It was just a wonderful event," she said. As an undergraduate at UC Davis, she worked at the Bohart Museum under the direction of then museum director, UC Davis Distinguished Professor (now emerita) Lynn Kimsey.

The 350 attendees learned about the super powers of specific bugs, such as “walking on water, reflective color, invisibility, super strength, zombie sting, super vision, explosions, stunt lying and retractable wings."

And "breathing underwater, secret messages, glowing, body armory, disguises, poisonous blood and transformation."

Bug Power, geared for children ages 8-12, is her first children's book. It features 20 bugs and their superpowers.

"I got a lot of questions about specimens in my displays, especially the Goliath beetle life cycle which was new to a lot of people," Dole said.

"I also answered questions about being a UC Davis entomology graduate and where that has taken me in my life," Dole commented. She is friends with fellow entomologist and macro photographer Alex Wild, who received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, studying with Professor Phil Ward. 

"Alex Wild was my teaching assistant for a Bug Boot Camp class in 2002 at Sagehen Field Station with Phil Ward as professor," she said. Wild is nows a wildlife photographer and curator of entomology at the University of Texas, Austin.

Dole holds a bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis (2003) and a doctorate in entomology from Michigan State University (2008). 

Dole has been educating the public about insects since 1997. Her teaching experience includes students from the university level to pre-kindergarten students. She taught at Texas A&M University (general and aquatic entomology laboratories); University of San Francisco (biology of insects); and at the CuriOdyssey Museum (pre-kindergarten "Science Together" classes). 

Her research on the diversity of tropical bark beetles uncovered new species and gave her the opportunity to work in the rain forests of Ecuador, Thailand, and Guyana. "I have a special interest in how bugs have influenced science fiction and show us how 'alien' life on Earth can be," she said. 

Dole, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, has engaged in education and outreach throughout the area for past 10 years. She has delivered presentations on insects at California public libraries, the CuriOdyssey Museum, Bay Area Discovery Museum, The Exploratorium of San Francisco,  Marin Master Gardeners, Modesto Community College, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Great Valley Museum, as well as public and private schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Next Bohart Open House

The next Bohart Museum open house is Saturday, Nov. 7 from 1 to 4 p.m. Visitors are invited to talk to entomology students about studying insects, see the research collection, and participate in a craft activity. The event is free and family friendly. Parking is free on the weekends. 

The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, is the home of a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a live petting zoo (including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas), and an insect-themed gift shop (currently under renovation).

Director of the Bohart Museum is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, and the executive associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

For more information, access the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu/ or email [email protected].