It is my last day in Wyoming. As I reflect on my time here, two aspects stand out the most: (1) how much I have enjoyed deepening my understanding of insects, and (2) how much I have cherished sharing experiences with the people I have met.

During my CLM internship, I developed a deeper understanding of insects while gathering field data, pinning insects collected from the field, and poring over reading material. In addition, I learned about insects from the Wyoming research team. A big thanks to Sarah DePaolo, Michael Dillon, Lusha Tronstad, Sadie Todd, and Aaron Strube for sharing your knowledge on many topics, including new insect collection techniques; recollections on insects you adore; details on wing venation necessary for bee species identification; and suggestions of potential graduate supervisors, who study pollinators, for me to contact.

The CLM internship, which took me far away from home (Vancouver, Canada), also helped me meet new people. I fondly remember sharing many experiences during and after working hours with them. For example, in the field, we spotted wildlife, such as the horned lizard and pronghorn. Eating at Anong’s Thai restaurant with our group — especially when we ate family style — brings back great memories. In addition to my team members, I met others who I have also thoroughly enjoyed spending time with, including Joy Handley (botanist at the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database), Leon Miller (University of Wyoming Education student who kindly let me stay with him and his family for 1.5 weeks), and Abby Dockter (CLM intern on a Seeds of Success project in Wyoming). Joy showed me around the Rocky Mountain Herbarium at the University of Wyoming. Vedauwoo and its beautiful scenery was a treat to share with Leon, Marcie, Onyx, and Jade as we hiked around. Abby and I met near the end of my internship, but we did not let that stop us from having many adventures, such as making chokecherry jam, “nerdy window shopping” (which involved bookstores), biking, and attending local performing arts events.

I return to my RA at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver with many new ideas and fond memories. I intend to keep in touch with those I have met, and to further expand my understanding of insects.

We sampled insect traps to assess the diversity  of insect pollinators. Above shows Aaron and Sadie checking the traps.

Nearby the insect traps, our team searched in quadrats for open flowers. Often, however, the sampled quadrats did not have many flowers in bloom at this dry time of year.

After collecting in the field, we spent time in the lab processing insect samples and pinning. Shown under the microscope, here is an Agapostemon sp. that I pinned.

Before pinning, insect samples from the field were sorted, dried, and cleaned. For each sample, insects were carefully removed from filter paper onto a white sheet of paper (for constrast). Forceps, a paintbrush, and a hand lens were useful tools for processing.

Here are some pinned insects with the sample tags. The pinned insects are beautiful to look at, and important for science — but, for many reasons, I definitely prefer living insects over pinned ones.