Caterpillars are a critical component of forest food webs. They are the most abundant tree-feeding herbivores in Connecticut forests and are the primary food source for songbirds. Join Rob Clark, a PhD Candidate at Wesleyan University, for a day as a “Citizen Scientist”, learning about insect ecology and collecting real, scientific data. The program will begin with a short talk geared towards adults, but children of all ages are welcome to participate in the insect collecting program that will follow outdoors. Participants will learn how to collect and identify different species of caterpillars and then share this information with scientists. The data will be contributed to a state-wide database that is being compiled to better understand how habitat change and climate change are altering food webs on a regional scale.