Studying forest use in Buger Community Forest, Tanzania
Hey, everyone! I am Jill Hautaniemi, a rising senior at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. I am double majoring in Environmental Science and biology with a focus in plant conservation. I grew up in Old Lyme, CT, right on the coast of long island sound. Like the other REU students I like to spend time outside, hiking, climbing trees, skiing and swimming. However, I also enjoy playing clarinet, bellydancing, birdwatching and READING (so many books). I've always really loved trees but this summer I have the chance to fall in love with the forest understory!
This summer I am working with Dr. Natalie Cleavitt on her long-term round-leaved orchid project. Round-leaved orchids are a rare type of flower found in the hollows of Hubbard Brook's forest. To date, not much research has been devoted to understanding these amazing plants and their life history. Currently, we don't even know what species is responsible for their pollination! My research this summer is going to focus on pollinators, setting up motion activated cameras by the flowers to identify the species responsible for pollinating the orchids. Additionally I am going to look at the spatial distribution of flowering orchids and how this affects the individual flower's probability of being pollinated. So far I am having a really great time crawling around on the forest floor, discovering new individual orchids, and hiking around the Hubbard Brook Forest!