When Gabriela Cano first discovered Temple, she wasn't initially sure how the hands-on study of ecology could be incorporated into the University's urban Main Campus setting.

What she discovered after a visit to Temple University Ambler and the Temple Ambler Field Station was that she could encompass all aspects of ecological study into a comprehensive whole that incorporated lab work, field research and mentoring other student researchers.

"What brought me to Temple was the project that I'm currently doing for my PhD, which is studying an endangered species of butterfly as part of the Sewall Lab (which is overseen by Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Brent Sewall)," said Cano, a first-year PhD student in Biology offered by the College of Science and Technology at Temple and a Research Assistant with the Temple Ambler Field Station. "What sealed the deal for me was coming to Temple Ambler — knowing that I had access to this outdoor space and these outdoor resources was incredible."

Visiting Temple Ambler "and seeing how accessible such a beautiful, fascinating natural space this was just outside of Philadelphia, it was a huge draw," Cano said.

"As someone who really prioritizes having access to green spaces and making sure they are accessible for other people, having the chance to work in outreach at the Field Station was an opportunity I did not want to pass up," she said. "One thing I love about working in ecology is doing fieldwork and getting to work outside I got the chance to meet (Field Station Managing Director Dr.) Mariana Bonfim and hear about the work they do with interns and the  outreach incorporated in the Field Station's research — it was exactly the type of experience I was looking for."

With the Sewall Lab, Cano is researching the Eastern Regal Fritillary butterfly, an exceedingly rare species that is only found outside of Hershey, Pennsylvania, at Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center (FIG-NGTC). 

"There's only one population of this butterfly left in the world, and it is at a National Guard base in rural Pennsylvania. It is currently on track to be classified as endangered," she said. "I'm hoping my project will have something to do with resource management — prescribed burning and restoration for prairie habitats with the hope of reintroducing the butterfly into other locations."

As a Research Assistant with the Temple Ambler Field Station, Cano supervises some of the Field Station's research interns while also helping to manage the bigger projects that are going on at the Field Station, such as censusing the Temple Forest Observatory and helping the interns collect data for their individual projects.

"I think the biggest thing I've gotten out of working at the Field Station is new perspectives. It's always really wonderful getting to work in ecology because more often than not everyone comes from different backgrounds, and each person experiences their environment very differently," she said. "One of my favorite things about working in the ecology field and working with interns is getting to share the reasons why I love working out here, but also getting to see what brings them to the Field Station and keeps them here."

For many of the Field Station Research Interns, Cano said, "this is their first time with any field work experience."

"We have many interns that decide to continue with the Field Station into future semesters and even some that consider going to graduate school to further their education, which is really beautiful," she said. "Field work is not always the most accessible thing. Having it right here at Temple Ambler makes it a wonderful opportunity for students and it's something I love being able to share with other people."

What sets the Temple Ambler Field Station apart from other Field Stations, Cano said, "is how  close and easily available the resources are for students."

"That makes it very rare among field stations; most field stations tend to be in fairly remote areas or are more difficult for students to get to in general. The Temple Ambler Field Station is just a bus ride away from Main Campus," she said. "The bus makes it very easy for students to travel back and forth. I think that makes the Field Station a unique place — it's so close but so different from any experience you might get in the city or during a lecture-based ecology class."

Field research "places what students are learning in the classroom into perspective and puts it into action," Cano said.

"I think the campus is an excellent resource for students because it is very hands-on, it's very accessible for professors to use for practical lab experience and for truly seeing firsthand the things that we talk about in our classes. You can sit in a classroom all day and look at pictures of invasive species and talk about how they spread but getting to come out here and study some of these species firsthand — getting to see how those things interact with the natural environment and interact with native species during my Invasive Species class with Dr. Bonfim — that sort of practical overlap is not very common at a lot of universities, especially universities that are based in the city like Temple."

According to Cano, with the Ambler Campus and Temple Ambler Field Station, "we have an opportunity to bring those experiences to people and provide a hands-on on, visual approach to learning about the environment."

"For me the benefit of getting hands-on experience has been seeing how, as an individual student, I could have an impact or could have an influence on the world around me. When you work in a larger field like ecology, a lot of the things we are looking at are at a huge environmental scale — the problems that we are facing with biodiversity loss and climate change, those are huge overarching problems," she said. "But getting to have hands-on experience and, for example, getting to measure a tree and seeing how that tree has grown over the last few years, I think that really puts into perspective how important just one student or one person can be in having an influence on future research and larger impacts with something as simple as learning how to process plant data."

What initially drew her to studying biology "was growing up around nature and enjoying natural environments and being outside," Cano said.

"I've gone to a lot of national parks, and I've always wanted to be involved in that. When I started college, I knew I wanted to pursue a Biology degree but I didn't initially know in what capacity," she said. "As I started to take more ecology classes and be in labs, I began to realize I wanted to work outside and be involved in hands-on, fieldwork-based research. That led me to my PhD work in Biology, which is focused more on restoration and ecology."

According to Cano "it is easy" for students to take part in important research through the Field Station.

"It's a great opportunity to explore research you may not have had access to otherwise. Speaking personally, where I went for undergrad, like many schools, there were few ecology-based labs — to get ecology field work you typically had to pursue it during the summer months or you had to sacrifice a semester to be off campus in a different location to be able to do that sort of research," she said. "Here, you can take a class and get that practical experience and then be out here, touch some grass, see some trees and some really cool things you might not be able to see in the city. You don't have to go very far and there aren't a lot of sacrifices you have to make to get this amazing, hands-on experience."

According to Cano, there were students that took the Invasive Species class with her that have since reached out to Dr. Bonfim about becoming research interns with the Field Station "and seeking out more field experience and seeing more of what we have to offer."

"For any student who is interested in seeing what ecology is about and seeing what we have here to offer at the Field Station, it's easy to get here and, with most people, I've found that once they get here, they don't want to leave," she said.

Cano is among them. While finishing up her first semester with the Field Station this fall, she will not be away from campus long. In spring 2025, Cano will return to Temple Ambler to take Conservation Biology with Dr. April Stabbins.

In spring 2025, she will be a teaching assistant for Invertebrate Biology with Dr. Rob Jennings (Assistant Professor of Instruction in Biology and Laboratory Manager for Teaching Labs in the Biology Department).

"Over the summer, I'll be a research assistant in Hershey working on my butterfly project — I'll be collecting my first round of data for my project — then I will be returning to the Field Station in fall 2025," said Cano whose personal goal is to work in resource management for the National Park Service or the Bureau of Land Management. "I'm very excited to be a research assistant again. I'll have a whole new group of interns, and I will also be working with some of the interns that will be continuing with the Field Station in the next year. I look forward to being even more directly involved in mentoring and getting hands-on with the interns and their independent projects."