Maintain and monitor the Valley Life Science Building pollinator garden
Cynthia Looy, Professor
Integrative Biology
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
Pollinators are essential components of a healthy ecosystem and provide vital benefits to both plants and animals. The student-run pollinator garden around the Valley Life Science Building (VLSB) supports native arthropods (e.g. insects and spiders) and other wildlife and is an environmental education resource for students. We plan to engage students both inside and outside the classroom by creating a constant, high-visibility demonstration landscape around VLSB. URAP students will participate in planning, implementing, and monitoring the installation of locally adapted plants that attract native insects and other wildlife. They will also learn valuable concepts in conservation and wildlife interactions.
We expect these landscapes to be utilized by several courses and workshops on the UCB campus related to conservation, natural history, landscape design, entomology, ornithology, botany, and ethnobotany. Eventually, Herbicide-free Berkeley will take ownership of this endeavor as a club focal project, with initial assistance from the URAP students, at a later stage DeCal students, and local community members, under the guidance of undergraduate students Ian Chan, Natalie Redfield-Gale, and Kimberly Fong, graduate student Jenn Wagner, and Dr. Cindy Looy.
We are looking for 2-3 URAP students to help with garden maintenance, pollinator surveillance, data analysis, and website development for the garden. These tasks will be split or shared among the URAP students and require 3-5 hours per week out of their schedule. Please indicate which task(s) you are most interested in. There will also be opportunities to develop research questions and conduct statistical analysis in the future.
Role: We are looking for 2-3 URAP students to help with garden maintenance, pollinator surveillance, data analysis, and website development for the garden. These tasks will be split or shared among the URAP students and require 3-5 hours per week out of their schedule. Please indicate which task(s) you are most interested in. There will also be opportunities to develop research questions and conduct statistical analysis in the future.
1) Garden maintenance (3 hours per week)
2) Pollinator surveillance (2-3 hours per week)
3) Website development (2-3 hours per week)
1) Garden maintenance (2-3 hours per week)
2) Pollinator surveillance (2-3 hours per week)
3) Website development (2-3 hours per week)
4) Data analysis (1 hour per week)
Qualifications: Interest in gardening and natural history observations, excitement for being outside, desire to grow native plants and increase pollinator diversity around the Valley Life Sciences building. No previous research experience is required. We are especially looking for someone to work on developing the website for the garden.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Ian Chan, Natalie Redfield-Gale, and Kimberly Fong (undergraduate students), Jennifer Wagner (graduate Student) and Cindy Looy (PI), Graduate Student
Hours: 3-5 hrs
Related website: http://www.looylab.org/
Environmental Issues Biological & Health Sciences