***Donations through change.org DO NOT go to the Insect Zoo***
If you'd like to donate, here's a link: http://www.foundation.iastate.edu/insectzoo

After 30 years of spreading the “Bug Love” to Iowans, and across the globe through social media, Iowa State University has decided to close the Insect Zoo.

A half million Iowans have had lasting, educational, and often life changing, face-to-face contact with the Insect Zoo over the past 13 years, and hundreds of thousands before that. 

The impact of hands-on science experiences is immeasurable. To quote AAron, a commenter on the change.org petition to save the zoo, “How many tigers, dolphins, bears, and giraffes does a child see in an entire lifetime? How many of them are going to set on Mars or explore a space station? How many deer turkey and fish are they going to come across (in) 10 years of hiking and traveling? I can assure you these numbers are next to nothing compared to the amount of insects and spiders that they will encounter in 1 single year.”

I couldn’t have said it better. Arthropods are the cornerstone of our ecosystems. Inspiring and education the young is vital for all populations of life, but uniquely critical for arthropods. As the most feared and disliked animal on the planet, it is much harder to get someone to #dontsmashthatbug than it is a panda. #dontsmashthatpanda lol

The ISU insect zoo has turned “bug haters”into “maybe I’ll take it outside”, kids into budding entomologists, college students into entomologists, conservationists, biologists, educators, and more. 

Take a moment to read the comments on our Change. Org petition, hear the words of those we have impacted, including during COVID when kids were not in school. 

The Insect Zoo doesn’t just belong to Iowa State University, it belongs to the children of Iowa. The University, as a Land Grant institution, should embrace and lift up the Insect Zoo, for the Land Grant mission IS the Insect Zoo. 

Please consider signing, commenting, and sharing our petition. If you are more compelled, and email or letter to ISU president Wendy Wintersteen would show even more support, especially from the kids themselves. 

President Wendy Wintersteen
1750 Beardshear
515 Morrill Rd.
Ames, IA 50011-2103

wwinters@iastate.edu