University of Michigan
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

At the top of the day’s agenda was identifying and documenting wild flowers, insects, fungi, trees, birds and mammals.

On April 20, 2012 a group of volunteers from the University of Michigan’s Ecological Society of America’s SEEDS chapter and 40 students from Detroit’s Western International High School participated in the 2012 National Coordinated Chapter BioBlitz at the U-M Nichols Arboretum.

Coordinated by chapter leaders of ESA’s Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity, and Sustainability (SEEDS) program, the event aims to increase awareness of local biodiversity, the importance of environmental stewardship of wildlife and natural areas, and exposure to career opportunities.

EEB graduate student Beatriz Otero Jimenez was one of the main coordinators of the event that was part of the national BioBlitz, a rapid biodiversity assessment occurring on college campuses in 2012. The purpose of these events is to promote local ecological knowledge and increase participation of underrepresented groups in ecological education. Students conducted surveys of wildlife present in the Arboretum with help from volunteers from the U-M community including faculty, Arboretum employees, undergraduate and graduate students. Otero Jimenez worked with co-coordinator, Tiffany Carey, a biology undergraduate student. Other EEB volunteers included: Aaron Iverson, Claire Malley (an undergraduate biology major with an EEB concentration), Theresa Ong, Lillian Smith, Iman Sylvain and William Webb.

The mission of the SEEDS program is to diversify and advance the ecology profession through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest of underrepresented students to not only participate in ecology, but to lead. Focused mainly at the undergraduate level, with extension services for communities, high schools, graduate students, and international collaborations, the SEEDS program promotes an ecology profession with wide representation to ensure environmental understanding and a sustainable future for all.

Captions (from top): Students birdwatching.

EEB graduate student Aaron Iverson working with students.

A walk through the Nichols Arboretum.

EEB graduate student Iman Sylvain working with a student.

EEB graduate students Beatriz Otero Jimenez and Iman Sylvain.

Photo and caption in Record Update, April 23, 2012

Photo feature on the U-M Gateway