People with stereotypical habits and mannerisms usually fit easily in this society while its really difficult to be different. And the same was true for the 8 year old, Sophia Spencer, who loved and befriended bugs.
This fascination of Sophia’s was not acceptable by her peers and was only taken seriously when some entomologists came to her help. This recognition made her the proud junior author of a paper in a scientific journal.
And then a chain of events started when Sophia’s mum Nicole wrote to the ESC, asking for some advice on how to encourage her daughter’s interest in this field.”She is often teased at school by her peers because she will proudly display her current bug friend on her shoulder,” wrote Nicole.”I was wondering if a professional entomologist would speak to her over the phone to encourage her love and explain to her how she could make this into a career.
“If someone could maybe talk to her for even five minutes, or who won’t mind being a penpal for her, I would appreciate it so much.”
After the people at ESC shared Nicole’s email on thier twitter account many entomologists came to help Sophia.
After the ESC had shared Nicole’s email on their twitter account they got a tremendous response and Sophia got support and help from all directions.
The main author, Dr Morgan Jackson, who created the original tweet for ESC, invited Sophia to be his co-author and she wrote a wonderful section on the results she got after her new found fame.
The paper is all about how the original tweet and the #Bugsr4Girls hashtag contributed to science communication and changed the way how the public perceived entomology.
