Life Sciences Seminar: Living on the edge: pollinating insects and plant communities along highways
Life Sciences Seminar
Living on the edge: pollinating insects and plant communities along highways
Dr. Kaitlin Stack Whitney
Assistant Professor, Department of Science, Technology & Society, RIT
Abstract:
What does the shift towards using roadsides for conservation mean for pollinators and people? This seminar will present on the results of over 5 years of research, conducted in collaboration with many RIT students and land managers across upstate New York. We undertook a landscape-scale experiment to study the potential impacts of altering highway roadside management on pollinating insects, plant communities, and human health. Additionally, we incorporated social psychology surveys, qualitative interviews, and cost-benefit analyses to gain deeper insights into peoples’ perceptions of the project and roadsides as ecosystems.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Stack Whitney earned a PhD in Zoology with a minor in Science & Technology Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously, she worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency and the USDA Farmer to Farmer program. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Science, Technology & Society, which houses the environmental studies minor and immersion, and an affiliated faculty member with the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. She teaches courses like ‘Biodiversity and Society,’ ‘Introduction to Environmental Studies,’ and soon a new course in feminist biology and queer ecology. Her research mixes quantitative and qualitative approaches across environmental studies-- often with insects as a lens to understand broader systems.
Intended Audience:
All are welcome.
To request an interpreter, please visit myaccess.rit.edu
Event Contact: Elizabeth Dicesare | ewdsbi@rit.edu
Event Snapshot
When and Where
Who
This is an RIT Only Event
Interpreter Requested?
No