We will help collect caterpillars in ecosystems that were damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and rear them in order to measure parasitism rates. We'll also care for colonies of caterpillars and parasitoids that Dr. Lee Dyer and his colleagues are using in climate change research.

And, we will help Dyer rebuild his collection of reared insects by restoring a greenhouse that was damaged by the hurricanes, do some simple chemical analysis, and help update the Forest Caterpillar database.

Join us on our adventure on an Earthwatch expedition, Behind the Scenes of Hunting for Caterpillars, from September 30 to October 5, 2007!

Meet the Teachers

Melanie Du Bose

I teach 2nd grade at the Alexander Science Center School in Los Angeles. This is my sixth year teaching second grade. I’m fortunate to teach in school that emphasizes science and I look forward to sharing this expedition with my class. I live with my eleven year old son and husband.  

Hunting for Caterpillars supports a project that compiles data on the effects of weather events on caterpillar populations. I will be caring for and rearing caterpillars as well as collecting them. 

Blog:  MelanieDuBose.blogspot.com

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Joseph Lomonaco

Hi, I am Mr. Lomonaco. I have been teaching most of my life in different settings and capacities. I have worked in the computer industry as a consultant and a trainer for fifteen years. Currently I am a high school history and science teacher at a charter school in the Los Angeles, CA. I work with at risk youth who are under the courts supervision because of violation of probation and for a variety of other offenses. I enjoy the outdoors and love to hike and mountain bike. I am currently working towards my PhD. in Educational Leadership.

Blog: CaterpillarJoe.blogspot.com

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Samra Olofson

I am a Business & Information Technology teacher at North High School in Des Moines, Iowa. I teach beginning computer applications classes, as well as advanced classes that are articulated with Des Moines Area Community College. I am the mother of three grown children, and I also have three grandchildren with another expected in February. I am so excited to be going to New Orleans!

 

Blog: NewOrleansLiveFromTheField.blogspot.com

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Noreen Drucker

My name is Noreen Drucker and I teach English as a second language to students from all over the world at Fernbrook Elementary School in Randolph, New Jersey. I spent my last college semester at the University of Costa Rica and lived in San Jose for several years thereafter. Now I spend at least part of my summers in Costa Rica, hiking, rafting, swimming and of course, salsa dancing. 

For a week in October, we will be collecting and caring for caterpillars in New Orleans and noting the effects that climatic change has had upon them in their ecosystems.  We might also be restoring a greenhouse destroyed by the hurricanes that devastated the area. I will be looking for different ways of presenting information to ESL students so that it is easier for them to cross the language barrier and understand the lessons.

Blog:  CaterpillarHunting.blogspot.com

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Sarah Farnham

Hi, I'm Sarah Farnham.  I teach grade 8 science at Winslow Junior High School, in Winslow, Maine. When I'm not teaching, I'm usually home with my family and our horses.

I'm looking forward to my Earthwatch Expedition in New Orleans. I've never been to Lousiana! I'm interested to learn more about the impacts of global warming, and how nature responds.

 Blog:  SFarnham.blogspot.com/

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Meet the Scientists

Dr. Lee Dyer
Tulane University

Dr. Lee Dyer, age 37, is an ecologist who has worked with a variety of organisms in the tropics for the past 10 years and in temperate areas for the past 14 years. He received a B.S. in Biochemistry and English from the University of California at Santa Barbara. After four years of research on the effects of water diversions on the Mono Lake ecosystem, he moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he received a Ph.D. in ecology. His thesis work examined interactions between plants, herbivores, and their natural enemies and included work in Costa Rica, Colorado, and California.

Dyer was a professor for 5 years at Mesa State College in Colorado where he established the Western Colorado Center for Tropical Research and received the distinguished faculty scholar award. As of January 2001, Dyer is a faculty member in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at Tulane University. Dyer will be in charge of all aspects of the project, and his specialties relevant to the project are statistical modeling, community ecology, caterpillar natural history, and basic natural products chemistry.

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Rebecca Hazen
Team Facilitator
Tulane University

Rebecca Hazen, 29, is a first-year graduate student studying tritrophic interactions at Tulane University.  She earned a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Cortland, where she conducted research involving caterpillar behavior and chemical communication, and hybridization in milkweeds.  Since then, Rebecca has been an assistant team leader for several AmeriCorps projects, including wetland rehabilitation, prairie restoration and elementary school mentorship.  She also worked for two years as a research assistant at Trinity University, studying the effects of diversity on invasive plant species.  At Tulane, Rebecca enjoys teaching undergraduate ecology labs and is developing a Ph.D. thesis focusing on climate variability and cascades of diversity.

Time in New Orleans

Expedition Briefing from Earthwatch Institute

Classroom Earth Case Study “Forest Caterpillars”

Dr. Lee Dyer's Caterpillar website - caterpillars.org

Dr. Lee Dyer's homepage on the Tulane website

“Can Global Warming Cause Caterpillar Outbreaks” in National Geographic News

“Build Your Own Caterpillar” interactive simulation developed in collaboration with Scholastic Explorers

Last year's Live From the Field team