As a Richter Grant-funded independent project, Aakriti Dahal (Class of '23 and former farm crew member) decided to combine her love of the Farm with her knowledge of technology. She recognized that there wasn't a great online place for people to learn about the farm, beyond our social media accounts. So, she created this awesome website that you're on right now! While things have been updated since her initial draft, she had the creativity, patience, and skills to bring her awesome idea to life!

In the summer of 2023, Emme Patton '24 combined her interest of biodiversity and species interactions with her passion for research by studying how plant biodiversity affected insect biodiversity using the herbal guilds at the farm. This was funded through Richter and biology department grants, concluding with a presentation of her findings to her professors and fellow peers. She began by observing the plant species present in herbal guilds and researching the literature surrounding the plant-insect interactions she took note of. She then planned and created her own guild with the wonderful help of the farm crew and volunteers during the Arbor Day Guild Planting event. She observed the insect species present in the guild and the designated control area for 10 weeks and hypothesized that the guild would attract more insects than the control as there were more plant species to interact with. Her hypothesis proved to be true and gave confirmation that the farm's efforts to increase biodiversity through growing a variety of plant species was successful. Since then, another herbal guild was planted on Arbor Day with a goal to add a new one each year as the farm continues to grow and provide a home for plants, insects, and much more.