Every summer the Department of Ecology offers summer scholarships to undergraduates to get a taste of research (and to be paid for 10 weeks doing it). It’s a great way to figure out if this research lark is for you, to make contacts and to meet staff and postgraduates. This year we welcome a number of students who will be calling the department home for the summer.

Gerrit Roux is working on Using morphological and molecular approaches to determine the diet of ground beetle candidates for translocation to Quail Island with Stephane Boyer and Mike Bowie.

Maree Henderson-Fitzgerald is working on the Styx Living Laboratory with Kelly Walker.

Also at the Styx is Chris McClure examining the Effectiveness of a predator-proof fence for conserving lizard fauna in the Styx Catchment with Kelly Walker.

Cathy Mountier will work on the establishment of a monitoring programme for the Punakaiki Coastal Ecological Restoration Project with Mike Bowie.

Ben Wiseman will work with Kelly Walker to enhance and update the Entomological teaching collection.

Marie MacDonald will balance on cliff edges with abundance, behaviour and distribution of the Mt Somers bluff weta – Life on a precipice working with Mike Bowie.

Denise Ford will test a range of rodent traps and baits for species selectivity, bycatch, and animal ethics with Mike Bowie.

Finally, Ceridwin Benn will examine microbrial species compistion in possum bites as a means of identifying individuals with James Ross, Adrian Paterson and Rob Cruickshank.

Good luck and happy researching to these students! We’ll find out how it all went next March.