Huxley Smith
Pollinator Dynamics in a Native Habitat Urban Island
The VLSB pollinator garden serves as an island of native flowers in an urban landscape otherwise characterized by nonnative landscaping, acting as a biodiversity hotspot on campus. We have been conducting surveys in this garden throughout the spring and fall on the seasonal presence of insect pollinator species and mapping their visitation to the specific native plants we have in the garden. I will be continuing this surveying through the summer to fill the temporal gap in our research on pollinator diversity and abundance, as well as processing previously acquired entomological specimens from the garden to form a reference museum collection to back up our data. Moreover, I will develop methodology for tracking pollination habits of individual pollinator species to determine their plant pathways and levels of specialization.
Message To Sponsor
I would like to express my deep gratitude for all those who have sponsored URAP projects this summer. I intend to pursue a career in wildlife research, and receiving such a position early on is an immense opportunity to further my skills and allow me to work in a subject I am so passionate about. Thank you again for your support in forming a new generation of scientists!