饥饿，饥饿的球童

Goldwater Scholar Studies Lake Coeur d’Alene 健康

时机决定一切. 给贝丝·胡茨, how fast hungry caddisflies mature has implications for the future of nuisance plants in Lake Coeur d’Alene.

西林的大三学生, 俄勒冈州, is looking at the relationship between climate change and the maturation of an herbivorous caddisfly that can graze on Eurasian milfoil, 一种非本地水生植物. She is collaborating with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, which is trying to remove milfoil from the lake, 因为它会缠住船的螺旋桨, reduces property values and shades out native water plants.

In support of her work studying the health of Lake Coeur d’Alene, the Barry 戈德华特奖学金 and Excellence in Education Foundation named Hoots a 2020 Goldwater Scholar. The national scholarship program supports students interested in science, 技术, 工程和数学研究职业. Each will receive a scholarship of up to $7,500 awarded for the 2020-2021 academic year. Beth will be putting her scholarship toward her education at U of I.

Each scholar is selected from an estimated pool of more than 5,000 college sophomores and juniors nominated by their own academic institutions to compete for the scholarships. More than $71 million has been awarded since 1989.

A dual major in ecology and conservation biology and Spanish, Hoots studied freshwater ecology during a sophomore summer abroad in Ecuador. 在那里，她与伊利诺伊大学的湖沼学家一起工作 弗兰克·威廉他是大学的教授 鱼类和野生动物科学系. 在他们返回爱达荷州时, Wilhelm suggested she continue a study started by a graduating master’s student, 斯蒂芬妮Estell. Estell was evaluating whether a native caddisfly (Nectopsyche albida), 通常被称为白磨坊主, 可以作为百万分之一的生物防治.

For my generation of natural resource scientists, climate change will have a huge impact on every study we do.小贝丝·胡茨

“I just saw how much of a self-starter Beth was,” Wilhelm said. “那, and the fact that she has a very forward-looking approach to science, 让她非常适合这个研究.”

Through Estell’s work, the team was convinced the caddisfly would eat the milfoil. But the milfoil grows quickly during the early part of the warm season. On the other hand, the caddisflies need much of the summer to grow big enough to eat the water plant. Hoots is testing whether projected rising water temperatures will speed the caddisfly’s development. If the insect matures earlier in the year due to warmer waters, 它可能对米尔弗林更有威胁.

“Understanding the effects of climate change on aquatic ecosystems is incredibly important,胡茨说。. “要做到这一点, you need to really look at what I think are the most important parts of an ecosystem – the little guys.”

Hoots collected immature caddisflies from Lake Coeur d’Alene with the help of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe Lake Management Department. 回到实验室, 她把昆虫分成几组, which she exposed to different temperatures and tracked the maturation rates. Because her final collection trip of 2019 was called off due to COVID-19 complications, Hoots plans to finish her study during her senior year.

“For my generation of natural resource scientists, climate change will have a huge impact on every study we do. We’re inheriting a world with a rapidly shifting climate, 并且已经, we’re not going to be able to fix some of the effects from climate change,胡茨说。. “Studies like this are important because we need to look at what we can change.”

对于咄, who wants to go into marine biology in the future, doing freshwater ecology research is good practice as many of the methods and technologies cross over to saltwater ecology.

“I plan to go to grad school when I finish my undergraduate degrees to study coastal ecology and biodiversity in areas with high human disturbance,胡茨说。. “我们的海洋生态系统非常宝贵, and I want to make sure we have the scientific knowledge to manage them sustainably.”

本文由 利库柏, University of Idaho Communications and Marketing.

Photos provided by 弗兰克·威廉 and Beth Hoots.

2020年5月出版.