Russel Barsh and The Insect Club

Russel Barsh is one of the most fascinating people out here on the islands. He studied at Harvard, lives on Lopez Island, and is the Director of Kwiaht (Center for the Historical Ecology of the Salish Sea), but most of us on Orcas know him as the man who is always out counting creatures in aquatic plots around Indian Island and teaching kids about what he’s finding.

Russel is no ordinary guy. He is a jolly, overall- or wader-clad man with encyclopedic knowledge of land and sea species. He’s boisterously excited about the world, his voice booms with biology-based enthusiasm, and he always seems happy as can be. He teaches science classes at the public school, organizes science outings on various islands for families to attend, and has vast knowledge about just about anything you throw at him. He’s passionate about preserving everything around us and avidly works to study, maintain, and create essential habitats. Anytime I hear that he’s going to do something interesting, I’m there.

This year, he decided to have a monthly Insect Club for kids. Having children of the insect-loving ilk, I signed us up immediately. We missed the first one due to sickness, but showed up excitedly to the second one. We walked into The Funhouse, our gathering place, to an array of microscopes, live beetles, and samples of all kinds of bugs caught and brought in by the other kids.

After a slide show about the bodies and wings of different kinds of insects, we headed to Moran State Park to see what we could find and bring back to our makeshift lab. We returned 90 minutes later to gawk over the incredible creatures we viewed under the microscopes.

There’s so much more to say about Russel, but for the time being, I’ll leave at at this: if you hear that Russel will be somewhere, go. And if you go, you’ll probably meet his companion, Madrona Murphy, who is equally encyclopedic and fascinating.

Russel and Madrona, thank you for all that you do to spread your passion to others!