Saint Michael's College student Emily Ogilvy of Bedford presents research at Entomological Society of America

Student researcher discovers that ants survive better in habitat subject to controlled burn

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Emily Ogilvy of Bedford with her research results at Entomological Society of America conference

COLCHESTER, VT (11/18/2011)(readMedia)-- Emily Ogilvy, a senior biology major at Saint Michael's College, travelled with her adviser, Dr. Valerie Banschbach, to the 59th annual national meeting of the Entomological Society of America held in Reno, Nev., Nov. 14 to 16, to present her research. Ms. Ogilvy, the daughter of Jennifer and Michael Ogilvy of Bedford graduated from Trinity High School before coming to Saint Michael's.

Ms. Ogilvy determined after extensive field research over two summers and a school year that ants survive better in habitat that has been subject to a controlled burn. She presented this finding at the conference in a poster titled, "A Study of Ant Diversity in Burned Versus Unburned Sandplain Forest in Vermont."

For this research, Ms. Ogilvy used a digital reference collection from the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, to identify more than 1,700 ant specimens. The specimens were collected by Saint Michael's students in Introduction to Ecology and Evolution classes over the past three years.

Research in threatened sandplain forest

The students in those classes worked at the Camp Johnson Vermont Army National Guard Base, located close to Saint Michael's College. They collected macroinvertebrates as part of the ecological monitoring efforts for that threatened sandplain forest ecosystem. Using this massive dataset, Ms. Ogilvy found 30 species of ants, a tally that encompasses much of the total ant diversity in Vermont.

On analyzing the data, Professor Banschbach explained, "we found a significantly greater ant abundance and species diversity in the habitat that was subject to a controlled burn 13 years ago than in control plots that were not burned."

Ants as bioindicator

"Our work has important implications for conservation of the sandplain forest and for the utility of ants as a bioindicator taxon," Professor Banschbach said.

Ms. Ogilvy's summer research was support by a grant from the Saint Michael's College Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) summer student research fund. Her trip to the conference was also supported by a VPAA student research travel grant.

Learn What Matters at Saint Michael's College, The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts college, www.smcvt.edu . Saint Michael's provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael's College is located three miles from Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns. Identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nations Best 376 Colleges, and included in the 2012 Fiske Guide to Colleges, Saint Michael's has 1,900 undergraduate students and 500 graduate students. Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other grants. The college is one of the nation's top-100, Best Liberal Arts Colleges as listed in the 2012 U.S. News & World Report rankings.

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