Young Scientists Research Experience Results 2023
Our Young Scientists Research Experience is one of our favorite programs of the year!
Middle and high school students spend a week with us doing their own independent research projects. They come up with a research question, collect data to answer their questions, and share their findings during a presentation to friends and family.
We’re incredibly proud of the work these students did, and we’re excited to share their results with you!
If you’d like to sign up for next year’s Young Scientist Research Experience, you can subscribe to our email newsletter to be notified when registration opens.
Here’s a quick summary of all their hard work:
Lane found that spittlebug larvae prefer to inhabit goldenrod, blackberry, and crownbeard.
Logan found that Field Sparrows are more abundant in the fields we burn than in the fields we mow.
Grant found that bigger Redbuds have more pods.
Elyssa found that more aromatic Spicebush trees actually have more insects on them.
Liam and Loreli worked together to find that the habitat preferences of dragonflies and damselflies are almost opposite those of salamander larvae.
Sarah found that insects prefer to eat lighter-colored leaves and that insect damage doesn’t appear to affect leaf color.
We want to offer special thanks to Maggie Grady! Maggie was a student in this program for the last two years. She returned this summer as a research intern but also kindly agreed to help this week as a mentor. The students appreciated having a previous participant around for guidance and we loved having Maggie’s help for the week.
