Do intensively managed forests provide habitat connectivity for critically important native pollinators?

Graduate Student Name: 
Rachel Zitomer
Faculty mentor/Supervisor: 
James Rivers
Email Address (Faculty mentor/Supervisor): 
Department Affiliation: 
Forest Ecosystems & Society
Job Location: 
Peavy Forest Science Center 269
Description of project or research opportunity: 
This project explores the effects of early seral forest habitat connectivity on native bumble bee movement, abundance, and species richness. We conducted field data collection (bumble bee sampling and flowering plant surveys) at 75 sites in the Oregon Coast Range in 2021, and an undergraduate student hired for this opportunity would assist with processing insect samples (washing, pinning, labeling, and sorting) and entering data on both insects and flowering plants. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about the process of entomological curation and become familiar with the bumble bee fauna of Oregon as well as to gain experience in scientific data management.
Tasks student will perform: 
*Washing, pinning, and labeling bees collected in traps and via netting *Sorting bees by morphospecies and sex *Performing occasional specimen dissections required for accurate identifications *Entering data related to native bee sampling, bee-flower associations, and flower richness and abundance I anticipate that time will be roughly equally divided between working with specimens and entering data, but these proportions could shift somewhat depending on how much progress is made towards each goal prior to summer term.
Special skills required: 
*Basic skills in Excel *Ability to focus on detail-oriented tasks for long periods
Proposed dates of employment (must be between June 19 and September 4): 
Monday, June 13, 2022 to Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Anticipated hours worked per week: 
10-40