Levi Smith: A Moth Expert in the Making
© Sarah Bartos Smith
On a brisk November day, former VCE ECO AmeriCorps member Julia Pupko led 16 curious community scientists in search of Giant Silk Moth cocoons at Brookmead Conservation Area. Among the group of eager naturalists was Levi Smith, VCE’s first-ever Youth Community Scientist of the Year. During the walk, Levi began sharing information about silk moths with those around him. It quickly became apparent that his knowledge of these insects was extensive, Julia recalls. “Not only can he tell you everything about each species’ cocoon, but he also spends the weeks when the adult moths are flying meticulously recording each individual attracted to his blacklight, staying up until all hours of the night.”
Blown away by his depth of knowledge, Julia invited Levi to co-lead the next cocoon hunt in Zebedee Wetlands, and he accepted. “Levi arrived so prepared, complete with a bag containing old cocoons of each moth species,” Julia explains. “He absolutely rocked that event.”
Levi’s dedication to studying these mysterious moths matches that of many VCE team members. “I have been light-trapping for Giant Silk Moths and raising them in captivity for a few years,” he explains. “When I heard about the Vermont Giant Silk Moth Cocoon Watch last fall, I was excited to get involved.” Levi not only participated—he also quickly became the project’s top contributor on iNaturalist. “After I started posting cocoons, I got really interested in other taxa, like galls, mosses, fungi, and lichens,” Levi says. “Now, I have been trying to post as many Vermont species as possible.”
Today, Levi is an avid iNaturalist user with nearly 13,000 observations representing over 2,700 species. Each observation represents a single data point in the Vermont Atlas of Life, which helps VCE biologists and professionals across the state better understand and predict biodiversity trends. This constant process of discovery resulting in valuable data draws Levi to community science.
“I think biodiversity research is exciting because I can find species that nobody really knows anything about,” Levi explains. “I have found a bunch that had not been recorded on iNaturalist in Vermont, including several species of stem miners and galls undescribed by science. I also just like walking around and looking for species I have never seen before. With environmental change happening so fast, I want to find and photograph species before they are gone.”
We at VCE are deeply impressed with Levi’s wealth of knowledge and outstanding contributions to our understanding of Vermont’s biodiversity. Congratulations, Levi!
VCE’s Youth Community Scientist Award recognizes the knowledge and dedication of naturalists younger than 18 years old who con tribute to our science and conservation work. You can learn more about becoming a community scientist by visiting vtecostudies.org/volunteer/.
