COLUMBIA, Mo. — Reed Nikko is afraid I’ll make him sound weird when I ask about the plastic zip lock bags in the side of his Mizzou-issued backpack.



He already gets a lot of sideways looks as he meanders through the trails in Columbia, at 6-foot-10 and in constant danger of running into spider webs and forced to duck under tree limbs.



The baggies are for bugs that will end up in his freezer. He assures me he double-bags the bugs and they’re placed a safe distance from the food. That’s the proper way to kill bugs and then study them.



Nikko takes us deep into the woods on this sunny afternoon, far enough that he’s not really sure where we are anymore. “This is the part I like,” he says, “where you get far enough away from everything that you can’t hear the traffic.”



Sometimes he’ll find a spot like this, where it’s just him and nature, set up a portable hammock and do his...