The Wesleyan Connection: Campus Snapshot
Olivia Drake
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BIO BLITZING: Scientific specialists teamed up with area students and teachers for BioBlitz 2007, held in Middletown June 8-9. The idea was get a snapshot of the biodiversity of a specific area in a 24-hour period. Wesleyan was a major sponsor of the event. |
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| BioBlitz participant Brian Stewart, associate professor of physics, collects beetles during the BioBlitz. He and Michael Oliver, co-author of The Ground Beetles of Connecticut, found several beetles in the bark of a downed tree. |
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| Wilbert Snow School in Middletown served as the BioBlitz laboratory, where species were identified and recorded. |
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| Crabs, snakes, toads and turtles were all discovered during BioBlitz. This year, participants collected or sighted 2,231 species including 27 reptiles and amphibians, 93 birds, 20 fish, 237 beetles, 408 moths, 25 mammals and 468 vascular plants. |
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| Barry Chernoff, Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Sciences, professor of biology, works with students in the laboratory. Chernoff helped identify and catalogue aquatic fish and invertebrates. |
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| BioBlitz coordinator David Wagner, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Connecticut, leads BioBlitz participants in a night bio hunt. The Middletown BioBlitz is one of only two Connecticut events since 1999 to find more than 2,000 species. (Photos by Richard Marinelli)
For more information on the event go to: http://www.wesleyan.edu/newsletter/campus/2007/0607bioblitz.html . |
James Sims
Editorial Staff
Ziba Kashef