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This summer, Kirchoff is working with Rebecca Forkner, an associate professor of biology at George Mason University, to determine which disease-carrying insects are associated with different tree species.

The students arrived in mid-May and will stay until the end of July, conducting projects and living together in a historic building.

Rising third-year student Tess Morrison is working with Meghan Blumstein, an assistant professor of environmental sciences at UVA, to understand how a variety of blackgum tree handles drought as it becomes more popular as a street tree in Southern cities.

Elizabeth Castillo, also a rising third-year student, is studying the relationship between the two bumblebee species and a conopid fly that acts as a parasite, eating the bumblebees’ intestines. The behavioral neuroscience major is working with T’ai Roulston, a research associate professor of environmental sciences at UVA, and his doctoral student, Willow Lovecky.

Blandy Experimental Farm spans hundreds of acres in Clarke County, hosting environmental research, education and conservation efforts. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

Castillo said every day at Blandy looks different. “At the beginning, I spent most of my days in the field early in the morning to open up nests and see if there was any activity,” she said. “Now that I’m working with bumblebees, I check them three times a day and collect the ones that have died to dissect them.”

Meredith Rickabaugh-Devolder, entering her second year at UVA, is working with Blandy’s director, David Carr, to understand the impact of heavy metals historically used in U.S. agriculture.

“In the 1900s, they used to spray lead arsenic as a pesticide in old apple orchards to combat the coddling moth, but the problem is lead arsenic just accumulates in the soil, and it doesn’t usually wash out,” she said. “So we’re examining soil to see how much is still there.”

Blandy also houses the State Arboretum of Virginia. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

She is also running a greenhouse experiment to understand how arsenic passes from the soil to plants to the animals that eat them. To do this, she adds arsenic to the soil where tomato plants are growing, then adds tobacco hornworms, which she analyzes.

During the summer, the group has built friendships and participated in Blandy researchers’ traditions. On Tuesdays, they gather as a group to go to the movies, and organized weekend activities like hiking and birding. On Wednesdays, they join the rest of the research community for a seminar speaker followed by a potluck meal.

Castillo said a great aspect of the program is that researchers from diverse backgrounds and interests participate in ecological research.

“I would encourage anyone interested in scientific research to apply to programs like Blandy’s, regardless of your major,” she said. “You never know what interests you’ll end up discovering.”