Get the campus bug count on April 23

“My roommate is an arthropod!”

There are bugs everywhere whether you like it or not. Now you can get the official campus bug count at the Wolfpack Citizen Science Challenge wrap-up event.

The 2019 Wolfpack Citizen Science Challenge, Never Home Alone @ NCSU, asks students on and near campus to find and photograph insects and other life that they encounter in their home, dorm, or apartment. The Libraries hosts the results show, What Did We Find Living on our Campus?, on Tuesday, April 23 from 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. in the Hill Library Fishbowl Forum.

Students participating in the project are playing a part in the first scientific study to comprehensively examine the biodiversity of indoor spaces on a college campus. Never Home Alone @ NCSU is part of a larger worldwide project to study the species in homes by the Dunn Lab at NC State. In this event, Rob Dunn will share results from the campus challenge and talk about how they relate to our understanding of indoor biodiversity around the world.

Students can register to participate and take pictures right up until April 22. And we are lending macro lenses for phone cameras so you can take better pictures of what’s crawling around in your shower drain and couch cushions. Prizes will be given to the residence hall with the most participation, the participants with the most observations, and the participants who observe the most species. Participants will also be entered into a drawing to win prizes such as gift cards and smartphone macro lenses.