{"id":7483,"date":"2022-02-08T12:24:36","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T18:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=7483"},"modified":"2022-02-08T12:24:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T18:24:36","slug":"insect-inspiration-for-uwls-barrett-klein-theres-beauty-in-every-bug","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/insect-inspiration-for-uwls-barrett-klein-theres-beauty-in-every-bug\/","title":{"rendered":"Insect inspiration: For UWL\u2019s Barrett Klein, there\u2019s beauty in every bug"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Photo
Over the years, UW-La Crosse Professor of Biology Barrett Klein has helped thousands of students appreciate the diversity, beauty and ecological impact of insects.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Klein will present during the next TEDx event on the UW-La Crosse campus.<\/h3>\n

Klein will explore and reveal cultural connections people have with the ten quintillion insects with whom we share the planet at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in The Bluffs, UWL Student Union. Learn more on the\u00a0TEDx website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Growing up on the outskirts of Detroit, Barrett Klein treasured every piece of wilderness he could find.<\/p>\n

His mother\u2019s garden, the city zoo, pockets of nature around the neighborhood \u2014 all were sources of endless fascination for Klein.<\/p>\n

One day, he discovered a dead butterfly in the family\u2019s driveway. It was a moment that left an indelible mark on his young mind, and inspired his lifelong obsession with insects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember experiencing a thrill of knowing that insects could play a huge role in my life. How? I didn\u2019t know, but not knowing helped fuel my exhilaration,\u201d says\u00a0Klein, now a professor of biology<\/a>, specializing in entomology, at UW-La Crosse. \u201cSometimes, all it takes is a single, tiny creature to open our eyes or redirect our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Photo<\/a>
A mixed-media model of Chlaenius, a type of ground beetle. Barrett Klein, 1996<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since 2012, Klein has shared his passion for insects \u2014 from dancing honey bees, to farming leaf-cutter ants, to singing crickets \u2014 with thousands of UWL students. Often, this involves gently converting those who regard insects as creepy and crawly \u2014 little nuisances to be squished by a shoe.<\/p>\n

To Klein, insects are spectacularly diverse, amazing organisms. The vast amount of good they do for people and the planet, he says, is rivaled only by their beauty.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll around us, we have these marvelous little beings that exhibit just about every form, color and behavior imaginable,\u201d he explains. \u201cIf you are drawn to flashy iridescence or perfect crypsis, the delicate or the armored, the solitary or the social, the aquatic or the terrestrial, insects represent over 400 million years of evolution, radiating into more than one million described species. The diversity is so outrageous, there is something out there to appeal to any willing eye or mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his quest to capture the intricacies of insects, it was fortunate that Klein came from a family of artists.<\/p>\n

His\u00a0mother<\/a>\u00a0and father owned an art gallery for 40 years. His\u00a0sister<\/a>\u00a0is a luthier and a writer. And his\u00a0twin brother<\/a>\u00a0is a scientist who creates masks that could be considered masterpieces.<\/p>\n

Naturally, Klein made insects the focus of\u00a0his art<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Photo<\/a>
A colored pencil illustration of Polistes flavus, also known as the yellow paper wasp. Barrett Klein, 1999<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His work includes scientific illustrations, usually colored pencil or ink on paper. He also spent years making insect models for museums, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.<\/p>\n

Lately, he has used the sculpting skills he learned from model-making to create wearable, insect-themed masks. The kicker: The masks are made from materials produced by insects, such as wax from honey bees, paper from wasp nests, silk from silkworm moths and carmine dye from cochineal bugs.<\/p>\n

For Klein, entomology is much more than a nine-to-five. He leans \u2014 dives \u2014 into the \u201cbug guy\u201d persona.<\/p>\n

When he applied to UWL, Klein showed up to his interview in ant-themed clothing, head to toe. He jokes that it was the deciding factor in his employment.<\/p>\n

Even his home is a shrine of sorts:<\/p>\n

\u201cEverywhere you turn in my home, insects remind me of their importance and their beauty \u2014 whether it\u2019s insect art on the walls, our tank of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, or my collection of insect comic books, music, literature, stamps, currency, advertisements and foods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Insects, Klein says, \u201care just about always on my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

All this effort and enthusiasm comes with a simple goal: to get others to stop and marvel at insects the same way a young Klein once stopped and marveled at a dead butterfly.<\/p>\n

More than any other member of the animal kingdom, insects manage to fly under humanity\u2019s radar. Yet no other class of animal is more important to our survival, Klein notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur very existence depends on the insects around us. They provide ecological services by pollinating, decomposing and feeding others, without which ecosystems would crumble,\u201d Klein says. \u201cIf I can play a part in getting people to appreciate insects, maybe we can do more, individually and collectively, to behave less destructively and conserve some of the grand diversity we should celebrate and treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo
A model of a termite soldier. Barrett Klein, 1996<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

More on Klein and insect art<\/h3>\n

For a look at how insects and their products have been used in art, read this\u00a0new article<\/a>\u00a0written by Klein.<\/p>\n

Klein was also\u00a0recently featured<\/a>\u00a0in Knowable Magazine.<\/p>\n

Klein will present during the next TEDx event on campus.<\/h3>\n

Klein will explore and reveal cultural connections people have with the ten quintillion insects with whom we share the planet at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in The Bluffs, UWL Student Union. Learn more on the\u00a0TEDx website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Klein will present during the next TEDx event on the UW-La Crosse campus. Klein will explore and reveal cultural connections people have with the ten quintillion insects with whom we share the planet at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in The Bluffs, UWL Student Union. Learn more on the\u00a0TEDx website. Growing up on the outskirts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":7487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-7483","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/7483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=7483"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=7483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}