Berry student rehabilitating endangered native plant on campus

Savannah Cecchini is the mind behind the conservation project on Berry College’s campus to rehabilitate a native species of milkweed — Asclepias tuberosa — a critical food source and habitat for monarch butterfly larvae.

With deforestation and herbicide use impeding the survival of the plant, monarch butterflies are in decline. This endangered species is vital to the overall ecosystem, as plants and animals depend on it for pollination — and that has concerned Cecchini since middle school. Her first conservation efforts involved growing milkweed plants from seeds in a personal garden.

A monarch butterfly sips nectar from a butterfly weed. The wildflower draws a variety of butterfly species and hence is aptly named. Monarch butterfly caterpillars also eat the leaves of butterfly weed, which is a species of milkweed. CONTRIBUTED BY KOPPH / CREATIVE COMMONS

The Cary, North Carolina, native, was assigned a job when she arrived as a freshman — working in the biology department’s teaching greenhouse. Plants grown there are used in student lab work and research, and she began devising a plan to work with milkweed as soon as she could.

“I talked with Dr. Catherine Borer (associate professor of biology) regarding the project idea to grow and rehabilitate milkweed plants on campus, starting from seed in the greenhouse, and she was very supportive of the idea,” Cecchini said. “She has a lot of knowledge on plants and conservation biology and has helped me turn this idea into a reality.”

Cecchini took “Introduction to Scientific Research” and refined her project, which has two components:

• Determining the percentage of viability and germination rates for Asclepias tuberosa seeds
• Using this knowledge to allow for proper storage of seeds to preserve genetic diversity, for efficient rehabilitation of the plant on Berry’s campus and in surrounding areas, and for possible diagnosis of seed deterioration.