Student Stories: Julie Ream
Julie Ream's research takes her canoeing down the Clackamas River
looking for invasive Butterfly Weed...
From an article by Theresa Hogue, Corvallis Gazette Times:
Julie Ream spent her summer tracking the slow invasion
of the butterfly bush. Buddleja davidii is an eye-catcher of
a plant, with its lilac-shaped blooms that emit a perfume-sweet fragrance, and
its spear-shaped green leaves. It is irresistible to insects and especially to
butterflies, which can be seen flocking to its blooms in the summer and have
lent it its common name, butterfly bush.
Those gardeners who want to attract butterflies to
their garden have in the past been encouraged to grow butterfly bush, which is
hardy, drought-resistant and, in general, hard to kill.
"Even if you're an awful gardener, you can get it
to grow," said Oregon
State University
junior Julie Ream.
But now, nurseries and scientists are discovering that
butterfly bush is trouble, precisely for those qualities that gardeners adore.
It's hard to kill, and it may be taking over.
Ream is spending her summer examining the plant's
invasion of natural sites around Oregon.
She has partnered with James Altland, a horticulturist with the OSU North
Willamette Extension Service, through a fellowship with the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute (HHMI) Summer Research Program.
The HHMI program encourages undergraduate students in
doing research and work with mentors, something frequently reserved for
graduate students. Students are paid to work for 11 weeks during the summer on
projects that interest them or reflect their field of study, from biochemistry
to zoology.
Ream majored in Bioresource Research with option
specialization in Sustainable Ecosystems. Her mentors were James Altland and Mark Wilson.
See more Student Stories:
Ryan Scholz won a national award for superior achievement in natural resources-based research... BRR student Vananh Nguyen was invited to attend US presidential inauguration...