Working in a three person crew, the interns will work for the summer season to document the distribution and abundance of pollinators and plants throughout the Park, net collecting and photographing insects before releasing them back to the wild. Photographs will be uploaded to iNaturalist for crowd-sourced identification. The interns will train with the Pollinator Hotshots in Colorado, then sample from throughout the Park all season. They will lead a group of local interns from UC Merced in 4-5 larger sampling events and host a “Pollinator Week” to work with community volunteers to hunt for the Top Ten Most-Wanted Pollinators of immediate conservation interest. All data will be uploaded to the Pollinator Hotshot dataset in iNaturalist to be incorporated into analyses of pollinator response to climate change in high elevation habitats across western North America. The Yosemite Pollinator Hotshots program is an opportunity to gather critical information on the identity and distribution of pollinators in the park, inform pollinator plant community restorations, encourage minority participation in science and natural resource management, and contribute to the larger effort to conserve and protect pollinators in the network of National Parks.

Approved