News

June 19, 2017: National Pollinator Week

June 19-25, 2017 has been designated National Pollinator Week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of the Interior. Read more about this here: http://pollinator.org/...

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Tags: pollinator

June 05, 2017: Lab receives two new NSF grants!

The Ries Lab was just informed that two NSF proposals were recommended for funding. HOORAY!

The first is a $1.6m collaborative grant (330K to Georgetown) focused on climatic drivers of phenological (seasonal timing) changes at multiple...

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April 27, 2017: Baltimore Checkerspots: The Next Generation

Courtship and mating behaviors had been observed over the last week and today, despite the cooler indoor environment and limited sunlight, the first batches of eggs have been laid. The eggs were deposited on the underside of the leaves of...

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April 07, 2017: Our Baltimore Checkerspots are pupating

This is our first Baltimore Checkerspot pupa of the season. It completed larval development so fast because it's been kept at rather high temperatures (32°C).


March 24, 2017: Prof. Ries seminar at American University

Prof. Ries will give a talk on March 29th on butterfly responses to climate change as part of American University's Humanities series on energy. For more information, see here:...

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Tags: seminar

March 23, 2017: Our Baltimore Checkerspots are waking up from diapause

Our first generation of Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars are resuming activities. They overwintered as 4th instar larvae and are getting ready to complete development this spring.


February 13, 2017: Paper published: Monarch demographics and conservation

A spatially explicit demographic model for North American monarchs and implications for conservation by Dr. Ries and colleagues was published by Ecological Entomology. The model results indicate that conservation actions in multiple regions will...

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February 13, 2017: Dr. Ries seminar at Howard U.

Dr. Ries visited Howard University in January to speak at their departmental seminar about the work of the Ries Lab at Georgetown.


September 21, 2016: 1st generation of caterpillars emerging

Our first generation of silver-spotted skipper caterpillars are almost all finished developing (except for the unfortunate individuals who were put in the coldest treatments). We now have adults emerged and in the mating cage - hopefully ready...

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August 19, 2016: Chambers are up and running!

After two months of electrical mishaps, our growth chambers are finally up and running and filled with hundreds of caterpillars.