Carnival of the mini-beasties

A celebration of insects and our relationships with them including:

Fancy Dress Competition! Children aged 3-10 are invited to come dressed as their favourite mini-beast for their chance to win an exciting prize!

Disease Room. Entomologists and parasitologists from the University of Aberdeen will explore the nature of disease.

Insects as food. Come along and experiment with eating some tasty insects with Bugs for Life. Howard Bell from FERA and Entovista Ltd will talk about whether insects can make a meaningful contribution to our diet, and why you may soon be ordering cricket tikka masala from the local takeaway.

Don’t Panic! Room. Explore your phobias with staff from the School of Psychology.

Meditation and Empathy Workshop. Join more-than-human anthropologist, beekeeping-researcher, and meditation teacher, Daksha Rajagopalan, and be guided through a visualisation and sound meditation, with some gentle movement, designed to connect you more with the world of bees.

Superorganism Society. Come and meet the exceptional eusocial insects that work together in complex societies with entomologists from the University of Aberdeen, James Hutton Institute and Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Find out about insect hunting in the 19th century with Dr Patience Schell.

Interactive Insect Art with Rose Toney from North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership.

"Swarm” Art installation by Rod Scott.

Ask an expert sessions, bug hunting in the botanic gardens, games and much more!

For further information, please contact Jenni Stockan, Environmental & Biochemical Sciences, James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK. Office: +44 (0)1224 395 239.