MSc. Student
I am studying butterflies in The Meadoway, a 16 km long hydro corridor in Scarborough, Ontario, which is in the process of being restored to meadow habitat. Specifically, I am considering how the butterfly community changes after restoration from turf to meadow habitat, and how this is influenced by changes in host plant abundance and diversity. I do this by completing floral surveys as well as by completing timed walk surveys where I observe interactions between butterflies and their host plants. I previously completed a co-op term as well as my undergraduate thesis with the Waterloo Wetland Lab, where I compared butterfly sampling methods in The Meadoway. In this thesis, I found that timed walks are the preferred method over area counts.