Dr. Peter Park

During Summer 2026, an experiment employing clay caterpillar decoys will be designed together with interns and then implemented on the FSC campus. As in previous years, once study sites have been selected for the experiment, clay caterpillar decoys made of oven-bake clay will be attached to structures (e.g., trees, buildings) and monitored for a period of several weeks. Biodiversity can be assessed by identifying the animals that bit the decoys and how often the decoys are bitten overall. This work may also culminate in the development of student lab activities to be implemented directly in Bio131L (Biological Principles II Laboratory) course. If time permits, lab studies will be conducted to validate bite mark types with known invertebrate species.

Student interns will

a)      co-design of experimental study

b)     read, summarize, and organize peer-reviewed publications relevant to project

c)      prepare clay caterpillar decoys (e.g., making molds)

d)     apply clay caterpillars to structures at study sites

e)     regularly monitor clay caterpillars, which includes photographs and uploading images to a database

f)       study clay decoys further in the lab via microscope

g)      learn how to use web-based statistics apps to graph and analyze results

h)     possibly participate in the in-lab validation experiments to confirm the type of invertebrate predator that may have bitten clay caterpillar decoys

i)       develop an oral presentation that summarizes this work (poster or oral presentation)

j)       discuss and dialogue with Dr. Park topics related to the importance of this work to potential outreach efforts across informal (e.g., community science) and formal (e.g., classroom teaching) settings.

It would be very suitable if mentees have taken and done well (earned B or higher) in Bio131 (Biological Principles II), but is not required. 

Students would present their work as a poster in local conferences such as SURC and MACUB. 

Ideally, we would plan to meet at least 3-5X per week for 4-5 hours per day. If there will be more than one student, then days among students would alternate and possibly include weekends so that there will be daily coverage to monitor caterpillar decoys during the main project. 

Final Schedule will be agreed upon with selected students.