Stockton Biodiversity
Decoding campus nature
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Hairy Woodpecker Rescued at Stockton’s Unified Science Center
A juvenile Hairy woodpecker flying towards Stockton’s Unified Science Center saw an extension of the woods instead of a wall of windows. The young bird, fooled by the life-like reflections, crashed into the glass. Lucky for the stunned, motionless bird, Lester Block, a professional services specialist, spotted him on the sidewalk below the windows on his way into work.
The bird was taken to John Rokita at the Animal Care Facility and by late morning was ready for release. He passed the flight test inside the lab with flying colors, so Block, John Rokita, and student Tom Gleason brought him to an open space to set him free.
The Hairy woodpecker, which feasts primarily on wood-boring beetles, is very similar in appearance to the Downy woodpecker. The main difference: the Hairy woodpecker has a larger bill, as long as the bird’s head.
Butterfly Brigade Counts Species, Monitors Local Diversity
Dr. Jack Connor, professor of Writing, and his wife, Jesse, caught a glimpse of blue flashing by a mimosa tree bursting with blooms. They tracked the streak through binoculars and watched it land on one of the pink puffs. The fluttering specimen proved to be a Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly (Battus philenor), a rarity in our region, which nectared on a flower for 15 minutes giving the Connors enough time to get a good enough look to identify the species.
“That was a thrill,” said Jack Connor, and one of the highlights of the Galloway Township 4th of July Butterfly Count for he and his wife who have participated in the annual species census for more than a decade. Although he wished he had his telephoto lens, Connor did capture a few macro shots from a distance. To see the photos, visit his Smugmug page.
Stockton College to Host Moth-ing Event on Galloway Campus for National Moth Week
From the Stockton College News Archive
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey’s resident entomologist Dr. Jamie Cromartie will lure nighttime nature to a backlight for observation on Friday, July 25, 2014 during the third annual National Moth Week.
Nature enthusiasts of all ages will have the chance to see some of the estimated 150,000 to more than 500,000 moth species that inhabit our planet. Participants will meet at 8 p.m. in the unpaved parking lot on Vera King Farris Drive across the street from the Arts and Sciences Building. The rain date is Monday, July 28.
OFFSPRING OF ROAD-KILLED TERRAPINS GET A SECOND CHANCE AT STOCKTON COLLEGE
A small, female terrapin attempted to cross the Longport Causeway to find a nesting site. After an unsuccessful effort, she was delivered in a cardboard box to Stockton’s Animal Care Facility where John Rokita, the college’s resident wildlife expert, took her out to examine her injuries.
The soon-to-be-mom had deep cracks in her left, front carapace—too severe to survive. She managed to hold on long enough to lay one egg, and with a bit of help, her other eight eggs were saved.
FIFTY HEAD-STARTED HORSESHOE CRABS RELEASED AT KIMBLES BEACH
Cape Conservation interns Tracy Smith, Kristina Koreivo and Joulian Wilmer waded through the Delaware Bay—the muddy bottom squishing between their toes—holding toddler-aged horseshoe crabs that just fit into the palms of their hands. The Stockton Biology majors helped to release fifty captive-raised horseshoe crabs back into their natural habitat at Kimbles Beach in Cape May County on June 11.
Stockton Prepared Maria Berezin for Research at Academy of Natural Sciences and Ph.D. Program
Biology graduate Maria Berezin, ’13, tackled every opportunity to get involved in local fisheries research during her undergraduate years at Stockton. The depth of her involvement paid off as she reeled in an acceptance to her top choice school. She is spending the summer at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University as a research assistant and then starting her Ph.D. program in Environmental Science there in the fall.
“The day that I received my acceptance letter was the happiest day of my life to date. I now work for Dr. [Richard] Horwitz at the Academy of Natural Sciences,” the Vineland native said.
She credits her Stockton roots with helping her build a strong educational foundation for growth. “I could not have achieved any of this without the guidance and experiences that I was awarded at Stockton. My advisors, Tara Luke and Mark Sullivan, were always available to me whenever I had any questions and helped me grow and gain confidence in myself and my abilities,” she said.
Maria Berezin with Dr. Tara Luke, associate professor of Biology