November 22, 2024

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Students, Faculty Collaborate on Research During Summer Science Institute

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To the untrained eye it was just an ordinary leaf, a speck in a mass of summer green on an edge of the University of Mary Washington campus.

Biology major Tessa Lanzafame inspects a leaf for evidence of insects. She worked with Assistant Professor of Biology Josephine Antwi to learn what herbivorous insects and host plants are present on the UMW campus. (Suzanne Carr Rossi photo.)

Biology major Tessa Lanzafame inspects a leaf for evidence of insects. She worked with Assistant Professor of Biology Josephine Antwi to learn what herbivorous insects and host plants are present on the UMW campus. (Suzanne Carr Rossi photo.)

But on a hot July morning, biology major Tessa Lanzafame spotted something interesting, a tiny green caterpillar that appeared to be gnawing. With a snip of her scissors, Lanzafame collected the leaf and the insect, then marked the location on a Google map.

It was part of Lanzafame’s summer research with Assistant Professor of Biology Josephine Antwi, one project among 19 conducted during the 2022 UMW Summer Science Institute (SSI). The annual 10-week institute, in which students and faculty collaborate on research, concludes tomorrow – Wednesday, July 20 – with a public symposium. Student researchers will share their findings via poster or oral presentation from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Digital Auditorium of the Hurley Convergence Center.

It’s the 23rd year of the program at Mary Washington. Earlier this summer, UMW introduced the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Summer Institute (AHSSSI) inspired by the Summer Science Institute. Read more.