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Fox Friday: Eliana Chiariello Works to Identify the Origin of Painted Lady Butterflies

a student in lab gear and gloves works with test tubes
Updated

Fox Friday is a series that highlights the accomplishments of students districtwide. We hope to regularly feature the incredible things our students are up to — whether they are excelling academically, athletically or are quietly impressive.

To start, we are highlighting a few students in Fox Lane High School's Science Research Program and the extraordinary projects they have been working on.

Today’s Fox Friday focuses on junior Eliana Chiariello, who has been working to identify where painted lady butterflies may have originated.

a student in lab gear and gloves works with test tubes

Can you explain your project?

The project I'm currently working on is about discerning the origin of painted lady butterflies collected from Cameroon, using stable isotopes. To find their origins, we analyze the stable isotopes present in wing tissue that have been obtained from their environment as the wings develop. These isotope ratios are then compared to predetermined isoscapes, or maps of typical isotopic distribution over land areas. 

What led you to study this topic?

I've had a strong interest in environmental science, chemistry and biology from a young age. I witnessed a monarch butterfly migration on a beach when I was four and have been fascinated by butterflies ever since. I started out wanting to do a project on monarch butterflies, but researching painted lady butterflies has been so intriguing.

How did you find your mentor? What has that experience been like?

I found my mentor by reaching out to many professors, postdocs and graduate students. The process took a long time, and I reached out to around twenty people before I received a response. The process to find a mentor is difficult, and it's important not to get discouraged. If you reach out to people across different disciplines and keep an open mind, you're more likely to find a mentor willing to work with you.

What did the research process look like for this project?

Over the summer, I traveled to the University of Ottawa, where my mentor works, to conduct part of the methodology for my project. I would spend a few hours a day in her lab and prepared painted lady butterfly samples for analysis, using techniques such as column chromatography and weighing samples into silver capsules. The samples were then sent to different locations to be analyzed for their stable strontium and hydrogen isotope content. We are still waiting on some of the results!

close up of a students gloved hands as she works in a lab

How could your research benefit society in the long term?

Butterflies are an extremely important species to as they are pollinators that are vital to global agriculture. Butterflies are also model organisms that can indicate the impacts of climate change and habitat loss. With my research, I hope to aid in conservation efforts of these amazing creatures by indicating their origins and routes of migration.

Did you learn anything unexpected during the process or from the course in general?

I learned that the amount of work it takes to develop a science project and carry out its methods is a lot — something I hadn't really recognized before. Even though there's a lot to do when conducting research, it's going to be so rewarding to be able to put together a final product and share it with others.

Do you have any advice for students considering the Science Research program?

If you're intrigued by science, our science research program will be an extremely rewarding experience! I've learned so much about the research process as well as life skills such as email communication and time management. My advice would be to pursue a research topic that makes you excited because you will be putting a lot of time into it, and it's important to stay motivated.

Is there anything else you think people should know?

The experience of spending time doing research in a lab really helped me to see that I'm extremely interested in pursuing science in college and beyond. Even all my work outside the lab has told me so much about myself and what I hope to do in the future. I highly recommend taking whatever opportunities possible to discover what you're passionate about, whether that’s through Science Research or not.

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