About BugNetMAP - University of Massachusetts

BugNet-MAP was the idea of John Stoffolano, Professor of Entomology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dr. Stoffolano teaches Insect Biology and a course called Using Insects in the Classroom to inservice and potential teachers (undergraduate and graduate students) every fall. Dr. Stoffolano was a classmate of Richard Nickerson at Oneonta College in New York State. Dr. Nickerson along with Karen Talentino were the major thrust behind the excellent project and website EnviroNet. Soon, Dr. Stoffolano realized the need to educate teachers and children in the area outside the immediate vicinity of the university. Thus, the idea for this distance learning and mentor assisted project was generated. The schematic below reveals how he envisions the use of the website and other distance learning technologies to provide the linkage between the students, teachers, regional mentors, and specialists in the state of Massachusetts interested in using insects in the classroom and outdoor setting.

Distance Learning Diagram

This project was initially funded by partial support from an Eisenhower Grant and an IDEA (Interactive Distance Education and Access) Leadership project from USDA, Cooperative State Research, Extension and Education Services (CSREES). On March 11, 1996, and before the first organizational meeting, this is what the linkage looked like:

linkage map

The Eisenhower Grant and the CSREES grant provided the seed money to hold the first organizational meeting of the BugNet-MAP project at the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester, Massachusetts. Twenty three individuals from throughout the state attended.
Three major focus groups emerged from that meeting: Individuals interested in Curriculum, Distance Learning and Teaching Technology, and Mentor Assisted portion of the project.

This is what the linkage looked like after March 11th:

linkage map

We are grateful for the funding
provided by the following individuals and organizations:

U.S. Department of Agriculture
Eisenhower