Research Spotlight: Biodiversity in the Solar Pollinator Meadow

The Horticulture team planted the Solar Array Pollinator Meadow to provide a habitat for a wide variety of insects, birds, and other pollinators under and around the Weld Hill solar panels. But until recently, they had no good way of knowing just how well their experiment was working–that is, until naturalist Louise Miller took it on as a research project for her Mass Audubon Field Certification. Miller conducted a biodiversity survey of the meadow and recorded 70 species of plants and nearly 300 species of non-plant creatures, from snails and mushrooms to insects and salamanders. Join Miller to learn about the diversity she found here, view some of her incredible photographs, and get a chance to record some observations yourself.

This is an outdoor program that meets in front of the Weld Hill Research Building.

We will be using iNaturalist (IOS, Android) to record species observations at the end of the program; we recommend downloading the app ahead of time. There will also be field guides available for anyone who would rather not use the app.

Accessibility: This program involves a small amount of walking on pavement with a mild hill.

Audience: This members-only program is geared towards adults.