Amazing news, my international exchange project to work with Sylvain Pincebourde (CNRS, France) was funded in May 2023! Sylvain and I have started working on linking microclimate (his expertise) and butterfly fertility (me). As a start, Sylvain visited Lincoln in June 2023 and we trialled two different thermal imaging cameras to measure temperature on wild and domesticated cabbages as well as eggs, caterpillars and pupae of the large white butterfly, Pieris brassicae. The wild black mustard, Brassica nigra, plants came from seeds that Nina Fatouros, Wageningen University, shared with me, while we grew kale (Brassica oleracea spp.) from organic seeds. The two thermal imaging cameras (FLIR E54 and FLIR T540) worked well, with the FLIR T540 comfortably outperforming the FLIR E54. No surprise there, as the price tag of the FLIR T540 is almost double that of the FLIR E54! The good news is that we can pick out the temperature differences across the leaves. This work was also done thanks to Teun's efforts - Teun is my summer Erasmus research intern for 2023. I look forward to developing this collaboration over the course of the next few years.
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Time is a tyrant and, as I have write this, my summer Erasmus student, Teun de Jong, has almost finished his internship. I first met Teun in Wageningen, in February 2023, during my visiting fellowship to the lab of Nina Fatouros. Teun was fascinated by my work on thermal fertility sensitivity in the large white butterfly, Pieris brassicae, and the experimental set up that Jamie Smith had worked on during last summer 2022 for his MSc research (as a side note, congratulations to Jamie on securing a PhD at the University of Hull!). Luckily, he secured an Erasmus research internship to come work with me in Lincoln this summer 2023! Teun has worked very hard this summer to replicate Jamie's experiments heating wild pupae of the large white butterfly, and measuring the effects of heat on butterfly reproduction success and fitness. Teun arrived the last week in May 2023, and, in a happy coincidence, I had just received news that I had been funded by the Royal Society for an international exchange with Sylvain Pincebourde. Teun therefore, started trialling different thermal imaging cameras with Sylvain's help. Following this, Teun launched into rearing butterflies and plants, setting up experiments and troubleshooting the butterfly's lack of interest in mating! I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Teun, who is looking for a PhD. I can highly recommend him, he is hard working, dedicated, and I have no doubt he will find a suitable project to pursue and excel in. |
AuthorGraziella Iossa Archives
August 2023
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