Del Rose
Through a CES grant, Del Rose ’21 went to Ecuador with Cristina Mancilla ’20 to study Ithomiini, or clear wing, butterflies in a cloud forest on the Eastern Andes. She investigated the relationship between regional diversity of clear wing butterflies and their adult host plants. Del Rose conducted her research on the Rio Zuñac reserve managed by Ecominga, a non-profit Ecuadorian conservation organization and worked with Abdón Recalde, a park guard, to collect data. She shared her beautiful experience with all who went to log lunch and explained what it was like trekking through a tropical cloud forest. She shared photos of butterflies, monkeys, and everyday encounters. Del Rose used the capture-mark-recapture method to study the movement and population of Ithomiini. She calculated the local species diversity, approximate population, and mapped out the location of every butterfly she and Cristina caught all the while noting host plants. The data that she collected is important to the Ecominga foundation to assess the health of butterfly population the reserve and she also provided insights into the possible mechanisms of host plant/butterfly diversification. She is very grateful for the experience and learned a lot about tropical ecology and conservation.
Ingrid Thyr
Ingrid Thyr ’20 studied the complexities revolving sheep herding in Blaine County, Idaho through a Center for Environmental Studies grant. Sun Valley, a resort city in Blaine County, has a long history of sheep herding and it is a central part of the community. The rise of synthetic cloth and decrease in the popularity of lamb meat has led to a decline of the sheep industry. Ingrid explained how sheepherders make a large effort to remind their community how important sheep herding is through festivals and sheep runs. The continued presence of sheet in the community, however, presents a wicked environmental problem that puts sheepherders and environmentalists at odds. Sheep, explained Ingrid, trample through public lands and erode soil, but they can also be agents of preservation. Ingrid argued that sheep help preserve land by protecting it from development, but they also cause the symbolic and physical destruction of land through erosion and indirect killing of wolves. Ingrid sees that ranchers and environmentalists have the same values, but the different narratives in which they see sheep make it difficult for them to work together. She will continue her research by doing an honors thesis.
By Cristina Mancilla ’20