Position: Undergraduate Palynology Assistant(s) Department: Entomology Time Period: Spring Semester 2019

(possibility to continue through summer) Pay rate: $12/hour, 6–10hours/week Work for credit option also available Graduate Student Supervisor: Kass (Katherine) Urban-Mead Faculty Supervisor: Bryan N Danforth & Scott H McArt Research Project:

Over 100 different species of wild bees visit apple orchards! Many of these free-living wild species are more efficient fruit pollinators than the domesticated honey bee. Yet what do these bees eat before the apples bloom? We caught bees in forest canopies—70 feet in the air—to find out. Now it’s time to identify the pollen the bees ate.

Palynology Assistant Tasks:

• Preparation of pollen slides • Pollen identification of common regional trees and shrubs • Careful sample management, note-taking, and record-keeping. • If interested: opportunity to participate in data analysis, manuscript

preparation, lab meetings etc.

Desired Qualifications:

• Familiarity with common woody plants of New York or other strong natural history background

• Experience with pollen identification or other key-based identification

• High attention to detail, reliable, careful note-taker

Contact: Kass Urban-Mead kru4@cornell.edu