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| Watching pollinators in the field |
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| Earthwatch team above coffee farm |
Back in San Marcos, Costa Rica, working with a team of Earthwatch Institute volunteers this week to collect more data on pollination in coffee farms here in the region. The volunteers this week are all from the global firm Ernst & Young, coming from Peru, Israel, France, Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. They have been spending the mornings with me collecting data in the field (several hopping out of bed at 5am and coming along for the morning run through town!) and the afternoons helping out with the local coffee cooperative, CoopeTarraz
รบ, with fiscal management issues. Our current fieldwork is focusing on quantifying the frequency of pollinator visits to coffee plants - these data will be incorporated into our ongoing exploration of the role that forest habitat and farmer practices plays in bolstering coffee yields as well as biological diversity in the region. Weather has been quite cooperative, and spirits have been high in the field - and everyone is looking forward to the Friday night barbecue at the home of a local coffee farmer!
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| Pinning hymenoptera in the lab |
