Environmental Internship Program - 2023 Booklet

BIODIVERSITY AND
CONSERVATION
Chloe Kim ’24
HISTORY
Certificate: Environmental Studies
PROJECT TITLE
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Foraging Patterns and
Climate Change
ORGANIZATION(S)
Stoddard Lab,
Department of Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology,
Princeton University
LOCATION(S)
Rocky Mountain
Biological Laboratory,
Gothic, Colorado
I collected data on broad-tailed hummingbird
feeding and wildflower availability to add to a
long-term dataset maintained by the Stoddard
Lab. My research partners and I identified flower
species that hummingbirds are known to visit
at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
and set camera traps on these flowers to record
hummingbird visits. We also used this dataset to
investigate whether changes in daily temperature
affect hummingbird foraging patterns. The
fieldwork component of this project taught
me to be a careful observer and appreciator of
my environment, and I also learnt the value of
repetitive work and the importance of diligence
and detail. This research experience has
strengthened my data analysis skills and taught
me to be critical and curious. I plan to continue
conducting research at Princeton and am excited
to work closely alongside other scientists who are
passionate about the environment.
MENTOR(S)
Mary C. Stoddard,
Associate Professor of
Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology; Benedict Hogan,
Associate Research
Scholar, Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology;
Audrey Miller, Ph.D.
candidate, Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology
* This internship is connected to the HMEI Climate
and Energy Grand Challenges project, “Investigating
the Effects of Climate Change on Hummingbird
Sensory Landscapes.”
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