Counting Caterpillars on Campus: Engaging Students in Setting Up a Phenology Site for Participatory Science

Climate change has been shifting spring temperatures that coax tree budding and the myriads of insects that fuel entire ecosystems. This activity engages undergraduates in setting up a monitoring site to contribute to the participatory science project, Caterpillars Count! that charts the phenology (the study of the timing of seasonal changes in the biological world) and abundance of arthropods in forest ecosystems. Once the site is established, subsequent classes with as few as a dozen to upwards of hundreds of students can enter data to inform this project, allowing students to directly measure the impact of rising temperatures on their community. This activity was developed for a small (&lt;30 students) general education course for non-science majors that fulfills an environmental literacy requirement. However, it is equally well-suited for a small-enrollment introductory biology course for majors, or as a project for a student-led environmental group, or ecology courses at the introductory level. <em>Primary Image:</em>&nbsp;Counting Caterpillars on Campus: Engaging Students in Setting Up a Phenology Site for Participatory Science. Example site map created by students.