‘Eight-Legged Encounters’: Hundreds of arachnologists gather to inform the public

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The University of Nebraska State Museum-Morrill Hall hosted the Eight-Legged Encounters, an interactive science festival. The American Arachnological Society welcomed more than 160 researchers from six countries for a meeting while they were hosting the festival.

The meeting began on July 12 with the event to give the community a fun twist on the world of spiders.

“The furthest away we have is someone from New Zealand,” said Eileen Hebets, a UNL professor of biology. “We have some people from Argentina, Brazil and Panama. Lots of people are very jetlagged but are so excited to be here anyway. It’s a great opportunity even for local arachnologists to meet these colleagues from around the world.”

Families were given the chance to act as spiders and scorpions through games, detect prey vibrations, sculpt clay arachnids and much more.

“Every station is engaging the public with experts in their own field,” said Hebets. “That I feel is an incredibly unique opportunity.”

Many local artists were on display throughout the exhibit. Original artwork, trading cards and stamps were helping the exhibits blend art and science together.