Katherine Cleary is a conservation biologist whose research focuses on evaluating the complex relationships between biodiversity and agriculture. She holds a B. An assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies , and a PRODiG faculty member , Cleary brings years of experience, steeped in hands-on international research, into the classroom.
Read More. The goal of this project is to use camera traps to inventory and monitor wildlife populations on the SUNY Potsdam campus and adjacent lands. This project is part of a larger regional effort, the Adirondack Inventory and Monitoring AIM network, which was launched in by Dr.
AIM is the first effort to look at wildlife abundance and distributions across the entire Adirondacks and surrounding regions, and our findings will be used to inform wildlife management and conduct education and outreach at both local and regional scales. This Kilmer Lab project is the first time Dr. Cleary has worked with camera traps to study wildlife. She is excited about the potential of camera traps to reveal patterns of wildlife movement we can't detect with any other approach.
Like many college campuses, our campus has a significant amount of land that is regularly mowed during the spring, summer, and fall. This mowing reduces habitat for native insect species, like monarch butterflies, that rely on plant resources to survive and reproduce.
It also has a significant cost in labor time, fuel, and wear and tear on vehicles. While the campus has already designated several low mow zones on campus, we propose that even more areas be left on a low mow or no mow cycle.
