Earlier this fall, a senior at Elon University in North Carolina visited the Sanctuary to collect insects as a permitted visiting researcher. A Naples native, Tyler Myers is on a pre-med track with plans to attend medical school in the fall semester of 2024. To fulfill a mandatory requirement outside his concentration, Tyler took an insect biology course that included creating an insect collection. 

After contacting our research team and receiving a Visiting Research Permit, Tyler walked the boardwalk with research staff and collected eight insects of different species. He brought the specimens back to the university, identified them, and pinned them for Elon University’s collection.

Growing up in Naples, Tyler visited the Sanctuary regularly with his family and knew this was a hotspot of biodiversity and an excellent location for his project. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary supports an active visiting research program, serving as a living laboratory for scientists from around the world to conduct research that advances our ability to conserve special places like ours.