One on one with Norman Gershenz, Director, SaveNature.org, and co-founder, Insect Discovery Lab
SAVENATURE.ORG AND INSECT DISCOVERY LAB BRING ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY TO CHILDREN THROUGH FUN AND PARTICIPATION THIS SUMMER!
Insect Discovery Lab, an award win- ning, hands-on educational outreach program using insects to inspire kids to save wildlife in wild places. The goal of this portable lab is to nurture environmental literacy, creating a pop- ulation of young people whose approach to their environment reflects responsibility, stewardship and com- mitment. Today, the Insect Discovery Lab presents more than 800 programs a year, reaching more than 38,000 chil- dren annually. Bringing the lab into the classroom has allowed Norm to have direct influence in children's lives. In 2005 and 2006 he nurtured and nomi- nated a young medically challenged 10-year-old boy for the Young International Eco-Hero Award and the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. The boy won both awards, and in turn is working to inspire other children around the world.
Norman director SaveNature.org is the very embodi- ment of the spirit of preserving the nat- ural world. Over his 41-year career, he has shared his love of nature with nearly half a million young students, helping to ignite their own desires to become active stewards of the earth. Building on their enthusiasm, he has created multiple opportunities for them to put their activism to work. He has trained teachers and educational specialists to keep spreading the word, has taken his message to the airwaves and on the road to major news media, conservation organizations, and edu- cational institutions. Norm's signature impact is the ripple effect. From his post in San Francisco as co-founder and CEO of SaveNature.Org and co- founder of the Insect Discovery Lab, he has pushed out into the world an empowering, hopeful, but urgent mes- sage of agency to their young: the world is in your hands. In 1998, Norm co-founded the Gershenz,
One on one with Norman Gershenz, Director, SaveNature.org, and co-founder, Insect Discovery Lab. He talks about summer camps, birthday parties and the importance of reconnecting kids to outdoor explorations! "There is nothing like the Insect Discovery Lab - watching a young child have the opportunity to hold a Madagascar hissing cockroach or a giant African millipede changes their life forever." IPM: Can you please tell us your a little about the kind of birthday par- ties you conduct for youngsters? Norman Gershenz (NG): Our edu- cator brings "fun science" to the party! The Insect Discovery Lab is the most hands-on experience any birthday child (or family) can imagine - dark- ling beetles, eastern lubber grasshop- pers, giant African millipedes, Australian walking sticks and much more! We ask to limit the group to around 20 kids (we know there could be up to 20 adults present as well) so we present to both the children and the adults. NG: There is nothing like the Insect Discovery Lab - watching a young child have the opportunity to hold a Madagascar hissing cockroach or a giant African millipede changes their life forever. Also, we are the only group that links this "nature" experi- ence with actually saving nature in rainforest and coral reefs through SaveNature.Org's Adopt-An Acre and Adopt-A-Reef program. IPM: How do you think it's differ- ent from other such parties?
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