Farrell Lab @ Harvard University

Jessica Rykken

Research Interests

My primary research interests include landscape-scale patterns of invertebrate biodiversity, the role of invertebrates as biological indicators for inventory, monitoring, and assessment of ecosystem integrity, and the ecology of forest-floor invertebrates in managed landscapes. Over the years, I've ventured back and forth between academia and applied biological work, with memorable accomplishments including two years in Nepal as a Peace Corps volunteer, designing and implementing a biological assessment program for vernal pools in Vermont, and co-developing a curriculum and educational tool kit to teach elementary students about forest insect biodiversity.

Most recently, I completed a doctoral program at Oregon State University, where I looked at the effects of forest management on the distribution and movement of ground-dwelling invertebrate communities in headwater riparian areas of the Cascades Range. I maintain an interest in and hope to keep connections to applied ecological work in the forests of the Pacific Northwest .

My current project here at the MCZ, coordinating an "All Taxa Biotic Inventory" (focused on insects and other invertebrates) on the Boston Harbor Islands, leads me in lots of new directions: designing sampling and processing protocols for a 5-year inventory; collaborating closely with National Park Service personnel, students, teachers, volunteers, scientists, and naturalists; and creating participatory opportunities, an online database, and visual tools to get the public excited about invertebrate biodiversity on a very local scale. Of course, most of what I do is harness the enthusiasm and talents of others towards this goal of discovering and documenting the insect biodiversity of the Boston Harbor Islands. For more information about the project, please contact me or access the website http://www.bostonislands.org/biodiversity