Floodlights and Fireflies: Environmental Sustainability Starts in your Front Yard

Insect populations around the world are declining rapidly. But why? While habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change all have something to do with it, Dr. Avalon Owens shows in this talk that light pollution is another important — but too often overlooked — bringer of the insect apocalypse. Light pollution interferes with the development, movement, foraging, courtship, and reproduction of diverse insect species, including many that we know and love to see in our gardens. Fortunately, light pollution can be cheaply, easily, and instantly eliminated. Doing so will help ensure that we live in harmony with our insect friends and neighbors for generations to come.

Avalon received her Ph.D. in Biology from Tufts University in spring 2022, where she studied how artificial light affects firefly courtship and reproduction. She also holds a B.A. in Integrative Biology from Harvard University and an M.S. in Entomology from National Taiwan University. Her research group at the Rowland Institute at Harvard studies how organisms and ecosystems cope with anthropogenic light pollution, with a current focus on the ecological costs and evolutionary consequences of moth flight-to-light behavior.

In-person meetings are held the at the Tufts Administration Building, (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available for a small fee, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.

All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. 7-9pm. The SGC has been informed that the entry doors to the TAB will be locked at 8pm, effective immediately, including on our meeting days. Please arrange your arrival times accordingly.