The project’s goal is to define the taxonomy and distribution of tardigrades (waterbears) in the forest canopy, and to document insect herbivory in a North American deciduous forest.
All students will be professionally trained to ascend into the canopy and learn to use remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), image analysis, and scanning electron microscopy to document the microenvironment. Students also collaborate with the Academy’s Chief of Science and Sustainability, Dr. Meg Lowman, and other scientists to prepare their data for presentation and publication.
Applications for 2015 will be available soon. The program is run in collaboration with Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, and complete details about the internship are available on their website.