Simon’s Rock alum Coco Deng to Present Thesis Research for Melastome Seminars

GREAT BARRINGTON, MA — Simon’s Rock alum Coco Deng will present her thesis research conducted on the Caribbean island of Montserrat during a virtual seminar for Melastome Seminars on Wednesday, December 18th.

During her final semester as a Simon’s Rock Environmental and Visual Arts studies student, Deng attended the Bard College at Simon’s Rock Signature Program on Montserrat, where she began her work entitled ‘Preliminary research on vertebrate pollination of the Lesser Antillean endemic Miconia purpurea’. According to Deng, exciting pollinators discovered in her research include birds such as the endemic hummingbirds and the Montserrat oriole, and local bats.

“My research project is the first ever study on the pollination of two endemic Lesser Antillean plants (meaning plants only native to the Lesser Antilles group of islands in the Caribbean): Lobelia cirsiifolia/digitalifolia complex and Miconia purpurea. The former is a herbaceous plant growing in a variety of wet and mesic habitats and the latter is a tree growing in high elevation rainforest,” said Deng. “Despite the rich biodiversity of Montserrat, the island’s flora and fauna remain understudied. The goal of my research was to identify the pollinators of these plants, which may be helpful to any future conservation efforts of these range-restricted species. My hypothesis was that both of these plants would be pollinated by vertebrates: hummingbirds, perching birds, and bats.”