Wow! Five weeks went by so fast!
My last couple of days at RMBL, consisted of our typical fieldwork but we also engaged in bug pinning! The QNEST team had collected some syrphids and bees for us, so on Tuesday we got to work pinning them for further identification at UDUB. This process was both tedious and relaxing as we carefully transferred each insect from its labeled ethanol vial to water vials for hydration, then to the pinning board where we slowly inserted a thin needle into its thorax, slightly off center.
Pinned insects!!
Wednesday we set up an ultra-thunderdome with two camera units, numerous geranium flowers, and even more insects!
As a reflect on this past month, I struggle to find words that adequately convey how incredibly grateful I am for this internship and for all the people who made it such a fulfilling experience. Thanks to Pinhead and Sarah Holbrooke for accepting me into the program and organizing my internship, to Jessica Gennari for being a generous and compassionate host mom, and especially to Chris Anderson for sharing his knowledge, guidance, and understanding throughout my internship. From learning about plant and insect anatomy, nomenclature, and identification to gaining hands on experience while working alongside incredibly intelligent people, this was such an impactful and special opportunity for which I will be forever thankful.
Regarding the results of this internship, Chris mentioned that conclusions will be made this winter, as field work is continuing through early fall and data will be analyzed around December. I’m so excited to see what the data reveals!
Potiental graph data
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