My projects for this summer will be focusing on topics that I have never dove into before. I will be participating in bird banding later in the internship but for now I will be with BUGS!! One project will be through outreach events that are dedicated to learning more about macroinvertebrates that are found within the river. One common insect that will be identified is the mayfly. In addition to this project, I will be with the natural resource management team working on the Dragonfly Mercury Project. We will be gathering dragonfly larvae and water samples that will be sent off and be analyzed for mercury levels.

Even with these topics being relatively new to me, interacting with insects and their exoskeletons have been a fascinating experience. You never know, I could be the next top entomologist once the summer is over!