My association with the Farm Hub began five years ago when I met Conrad Vispo at the Northeast Natural History Conference. We were both attending a seminar about earthworms and started talking about soil, invertebrates, Ecology and Sustainable Farming. He invited me to join the AFERC team and I was honored and excited. My current work at the Farm Hub is one piece of a larger picture, examining the changes that occur as a field goes from intensive agriculture to native meadows. Within our Native Meadow Trial we have four options. Fields that were previously farmed intensively were either planted with one of two native seed mixtures A= heavy on flowering plant species, B = fewer flowering plant species, and more native grasses, a typical “hay” mixture, or, allowed to fallow. These four options were replicated three times within the Farm Hub. Members of AFERC continuously monitor changes in the plant communities, insect communities (particularly beneficial groups such as natural enemies and pollinators), the hydrology, the soil microbial community, and the soil-dwelling invertebrate community, within these plots over a long period of time.

My specific piece of the study is to monitor the soil-dwelling invertebrates and to see if there might be any relationship between changes in the below-ground invertebrate community that correspond to changes in the other components, such as the above-ground plant communities or above-ground insect communities.  Since the community of soil-dwelling invertebrates is so diverse and abundant I am focusing on several groups that have ecological significance. One group are beneficial soil-dwelling entomopathenic nematodes (EPN). The EPN represent an indigenous form of background pest suppression and tend to be common in healthy soil systems.  We would like to see which strains of EPN are present, and if different land management practices make a difference in their community composition.

Another is certain soil taxa, specifically soil mites, serve as good indicators of soil health.  We can easily extract soil mites (and other invertebrates) from our soil samples using Tullgren funnels.  We then look at the proportion of different groups of mites to see if the soil is “regenerating.”

I started my graduate work interested in animal behavioral ecology. The more different and complex the behaviors, the more interesting they were. I took an elective class in entomology during my master’s program in environmental science and was completely fascinated with these animals. My Ph.D. was in entomology. My interest in the environment is intimately tied to insect ecology. Every living thing plays a role in the environment, and we should respect that.  It makes me very sad to see humanity distancing itself from the natural environment.

From the beginning of my educational career with insects, my interests were always in conservation. I knew how important insects were to every aspect of ecosystem function, and how rare and beautiful some of these animals were. If people could see them, they would agree.  Insects have also been disappearing from the landscape at a phenomenal rate, which is truly terrifying.

I was hired at Oklahoma State University, in 2006 to direct the undergraduate entomology program and I had a joint appointment in the environmental sciences program there. My job was 80% teaching and 20% research. I found my research niche with the Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Unit at Oklahoma State University. They needed an insect ecologist to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on questions related to American Burying Beetle. I have continued my American Burying Beetle conservation work, here at SUNY Cobleskill, and involved over 30 students in habitat viability surveys, over the last six years, to prepare for its reintroduction. This work has been funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Recovery Challenge Grant) and some small grants from regional conservation groups. I have a hefty list of collaborators on the project, and I have been able to hire John Pipino as my assistant who is a conservation biologist.

I got into “insect watching” purely out of an appreciation for their natural history and their behavior. I am always particularly interested in plant-insect interactions of various forms.

All my “research” has involved students. What excites me the most is to see young people become more aware and more passionate about conservation.

I think my first interest was animal behavior and behavior of insects is so different and that’s what drew me in to begin with. In the last 10 to 20 years people have seen incredible declines for insects, so it was a perfect fit for me. I wanted to work with conservation, and I was really interested in insect behavior. Insect conservation is new, and I think it will explode. It’s already happening – in every state in the country is taking inventory of their native pollinators. Insects are also declining around the world, the next to disappear for example is probably fireflies, so people are really paying attention. 

One final thought might be this – 99% of the animal diversity on this planet is the invertebrate animals and insects are about 75%.  They are foundational to the survival of our terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems.  People tend to be dismissive of insects, or even scornful.  Those who study them know that they are complex, sophisticated animals capable of amazing feats.  They have withstood 400 million years of global change and thrived. The fact that we, as humans, have been able to threaten the survival of such adaptable animals, through our destruction of natural ecosystems and climate impacts, should be terrifying enough to make people pay attention. 

For young women interested in conservation I would say that they should follow that passion knowing that they live in a time when they have this opportunity to be as successful as anyone else in this field. As is the case for most of history, I think it’s important to remember that it wasn’t that long ago that pursuing an ecological discipline would have been less acceptable.  Women may have been able to work in the discipline but were often excluded from the scientific camaraderie and discourse that is such a valuable component of science. Even today, this still occurs, and it is our job to continue the work of ensuring equality for women ecologists. Young women should look out for each other and never forget that hard-won opportunities can be taken away if we are not vigilant. Pioneering women ecologists made it possible for women today to enjoy the full benefits of being a scientist. We should not forget those heroes or take their work for granted.

“We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.” – Marie Curie