Insect Ecology students Nathaniel Carlson and Claire Yager are testing whether resource availability changes the effect of a parasite on goldenrod reproduction.
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Insect Ecology students conduct fieldwork at Dilmun Hill
By Krisy Gashler
Kendrick Nakamura ‘24 kept ants as a hobby for years while maintaining a career in IT, before realizing that the insects were his real passion. He came to Cornell to major in Entomology and said that one of his favorite courses was Insect Ecology, taught by entomologist Jennifer Thaler.
“When people reach out to me about potentially coming to Cornell, Insect Ecology is one of the courses I always talk about,” said Nakamura, now a Ph.D. student at Arizona State University and founder of antscihub.com, a citizen-science initiative for ant enthusiasts. “That course was absolutely helpful in transitioning straight from undergrad to a Ph.D. program. One of the first things they did when I came to Arizona State was tell us to go collect some ants. I had that fieldwork experience from Dr. Thaler’s class so I knew how to do it and how to recognize when something was different or unusual.”
Cornell AES manages farms and greenhouses that support research but are also unique teaching tools for over 40 courses covering topics in plant science, soil science, entomology, food systems, agricultural machinery, and more. This is the fourth story in a series about on-farm teaching; Insect Ecology (ENTOM 4550) is taught by entomologist Jennifer Thaler.
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