About Us

My name is Bradon Coy and I created Lil Dudes Insect Academy because I have seen a tremendous need for k-12 Entomology Education. Since a very young age, I have been extremely passionate about the natural world, but in particular, Insects. 

 

Growing up, I was always bringing insects into my family’s kitchen to add them to my growing insect collection. All of my Entomology knowledge was self-taught. Honestly, I was obsessed. I would scour the internet for whatever low-quality insect pinning tutorials I could find, check out books at the library, and watch every nature documentary I possibly could. Looking back, I only kept at this because I was hungry for more, not because it was easy to find Entomology Education. This explains why kids have a “bug phase” - they run out of resources. 

When I was 7 years old, I was diagnosed with a muscle-wasting condition called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This means I slowly lost the ability to walk over a period of several years. This quickly made me start considering how else I could fit bugs into my life. I obviously wouldn’t be a field entomologist in the amazon, but I knew I could still do something. This is when I realized my future was in Science Education. 

 

I started Lil Dudes in 2015 when I was 12 by hosting bug workshops where I would show my friends how to pin bugs and create their very own collections, using the bugs in their backyard. This has now evolved into a Podcast, YouTube videos, and so much more.

 

 

 

I am now (2024) studying Entomology at a University in order to gain more relationships, knowledge, and credibility in the world of Entomology. I strive every day to create the online content that I wished existed when I was growing up. Please consider donating to my mission here