From West Cook Wild Ones:

Scientists can decipher the songs of insects and the flashes of lightning bugs using non-invasive methods of monitoring insects. What do these songs and light dances tell us? Learn about the ecology of singing insects such as crickets, katydids, and cicadas and about the ecology of lightning bugs, and what they tell us about our nocturnal environments. Almassi will also introduce some commonly heard and seen species of the region and outline conservation practices relevant to these insects.

Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fireworks-and-symphonies-conservation-of-singing-insects-lightning-bugs-tickets-727056544697?aff=oddtdtcreatorand seen species of the region and outline conservation practices relevant to these insects.

Banner Photo credit: Megan Theisen, Forest Preserves of Cook County

Speaker Bio

Negin Almassi has worked for the Forest Preserves of Cook County for over a decade, first as a naturalist and now as the Resource Management Training Specialist. In this role she coordinates in-house trainings in support of FPCC staff, Conservation Corps, and partner organizations. Negin also monitors Odonates and bumble bees, curates an entomology collection at Sagawau Environmental Learning Center, and leads trainings for the Singing Insect Monitoring Program (singinginsects.net).

Negin’s passion for insects was ignited in high school thanks to an amazing biology teacher and a project involving red flour beetles, Tribolium castaneum. She then conducted insect genetics research and earned her B.S summa cum laude in biology from Purdue University. Negin holds a Master of Public Administration from University of Washington’s Evan School of Public Affairs, where she completed her master’s thesis in service of the Cultural Resources Manager at the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.