Pollinators provide essential ecosystem services and support ecological systems, and thus their adequate monitoring is essential to conserve their populations. Citizen scientists have an important role to play, and the Open University of Cyprus (OUC) is pleased to announce that Ms. Elli Tzirkalli, research associate at the University’s Terrestrial Ecosystems Management Lab (TemLab), has secured a scholarship by the UK’s Darwin Fund to undertake a research project aiming to monitor pollinators (butterflies and moths) through citizen science.
The project intends to study the effects of climate change and land use, as well as invasive, non-native, species on biodiversity, and has a two-year duration (01/2022-12/2023). Ms. Tzirkalli will be working as an associate of the UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology that leads the project, while the Joint Services Health Unit of the British Forces Cyprus also joins as a partner, since the project will be primarily focused in the UK Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island of Cyprus. OUC’s TemLab is led by Professor Ioannis Vogiatzakis and its research focuses, amongst others, on spatial analysis for species and habitats modelling and ecosystem services.