KINGSTON, R.I. — July 31, 2018 — For students studying the natural sciences at the 溏心vlog免费B站, working in a lab is a coveted campus job. Many students gravitate toward labs that conduct research in their field, but at the Biocontrol Laboratory, students work in the lab and in the field to combat invasive species.
They experience rearing insects in the lab and then put that experience to work in the natural environment.
Biocontrol is, as Laboratory Manager Lisa Tewksbury said, 鈥減utting the food web back together鈥� by using insects that specifically feed on invasive species to control their populations. For example, one of the lab鈥檚 most recent projects uses the Hypena opulenta, a type of moth native to Europe, to help control the black and pale swallow-wort, an invasive vine.
鈥淚t鈥檚 for people who love insects, but also love plants,鈥� Tewksbury said. 鈥淚 get a lot of pre-med students who don鈥檛 know where to get lab experience, but want to know what research is all about.鈥�
Last year, the Biocontrol Lab was awarded a permit by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release the moth in concentrated areas, but not before doing extensive research conducted largely by students.
May 2018 graduate Courtney Graham, a math and biology major from North Kingstown, came for the experience two years ago but stayed for the bugs. She鈥檚 done a great deal of maintenance work for the swallow-wort project, like caring for the potted swallow-wort in the greenhouse, setting up moths to mate, caring for the larvae, determining the sex of pupae, and logging data.
鈥淭he experience was really helpful in letting me know that working with insects is what I can and want to do,鈥� Graham said.
Last summer, she surveyed areas on Naushon Island, Massachusetts before the lab released Hypena in the fall. This summer, she helped worked with other students to release about 200 larvae in the cages on Naushon.
鈥淚t helped me decide that I want to be on the application side of science,鈥� Graham said.
Rebecca Donegan, a senior from West Greenwich, wasn鈥檛 a huge fan of insects before she started working for the lab, but they鈥檙e growing on her, she said. She works primarily in the field maintaining the swallow-wort sites, and collects data about the Hypena larvae and adults.
鈥淓very so often you get an escaped adult [moth] that flies in your face,鈥� Donegan laughed. 鈥淏ut going out into the field is a good break from routine.鈥�
Shiloh Clerjeste, a junior biotechnology major from Providence, agreed. He said that the lab builds and expands upon the work he鈥檚 done in his classes, and gives him an accurate representation of what working in a lab is like.
鈥淚鈥檓 learning new concepts, like life cycles and terminology. All things I鈥檝e never looked into before,鈥� Clerjeste said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 more here than meets the eye.鈥�
As a freshman, Johnia Gomez of Meriden, Connecticut, began working in the lab last October. She said the lab provides a little 鈥減ocket of stability鈥� during the day in between classes.
鈥淲hen everything was new and changing, the quarantine lab never changes,鈥� Gomez said. 鈥淚t gives you a nice break during the day to sit down and work on something you鈥檙e knowledgeable about.鈥�
All of the student workers agreed that the lab has given them incredible opportunities to study science in such a unique field. Their favorite part of the program is the relationships that they build with each other and with the lab managers and professors.
鈥淭his really is a family setting,鈥� Clerjeste said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e relying on each other for help and enjoy the experience together. It鈥檚 an encouraging environment where people aren鈥檛 afraid to ask questions and rely on the resources available to them, like Lisa.鈥�
鈥淚t feels really good knowing that I made an impact at 溏心vlog免费B站 and that someone will remember me and the work I did,鈥� said Graham.