Most people spend their summers trying to avoid flies, but as soon as she gets back from Harlow, Cheryl Butt will spend the next couple of months looking for them.

Cheryl Butt, who just finished her third-year in Grenfell’s environmental science program (biology stream), is currently taking field courses on the Harlow campus. When she returns, she will conduct research in Gros Morne National Park this summer thanks to the 2006 Gros Morne National Park University Environmental Internship.

“I’ll be studying the effects of parasitic flies on caribou and their migration,” said Ms. Butt, an honours candidate in the environmental science program.

Technically speaking, she is carrying out a study on the abundance and diversity of nuisance flies in habitat frequented by woodland caribou in the park. The work will be conducted under the supervision of Drs. Barry Hicks (College of the North Atlantic, Carbonear) and Christine Campbell, chair of Grenfell’s environmental science program.

The internship program is jointly sponsored by Gros Morne National Park of Canada and the Gros Morne Cooperating Association. Open to students in environmental programs at SWGC, the internship provides an opportunity (with $4,500 funding) for students to participate in research projects related to environmental and conservation issues concerning the park and surrounding ecosystems. Evaluation criteria include academic achievement, project design and quality, as well as relevance of the project to park research needs.

But first - Harlow!

Right now though, Ms. Butt's attention is elsewhere - she's studying biology field courses at the Harlow campus in England. her enthusiasm was evident over the phone...

"It's a great experience," she said. "We've visited zoos, nature reserves, Kew Gardens... we were out in the field catching newts, which we don't have in Newfoundland."

A field course is required for her environmental science degree; Ms. Butt will actually obtain two courses "across the pond" - Biology 4910 and 4911. The first focuses on vertebrate diversity, the second on applied biology.

When she returns, she hopes that her nuisance fly research will shed light on problems such as the dwindling caribou population in Gros Morne National Park in some small part.

“Caribou might change their migration patterns to avoid high numbers of pests,” said Ms. Butt. “I’ll be looking at what the numbers of flies are in the areas that caribou frequent the most. Also I’ll be looking at insects in the park to see what kinds there are in addition to numbers.”

A native of Carbonear, Ms. Butt hopes to use her research as a foundation for her fourth-year honours independent research project. Eventually she plans to continue her studies with post-graduate work.

“I’m so glad I got the internship and am able to use it in a field that interests me,” she said.