The Bergland Lab at the University of Virginia is looking for volunteers for the 2023 fly collection season! Capture evolution in your own backyard by collecting flies from your compost pile. Compost piles contain robust ecosystems with many different species of flies and other invertebrates. Over the course of the summer, your pile will be inhabited by about a dozen different fruit fly species and up to 15 generations of those species. You can help us track the evolutionary dynamics of fruit flies in real-time by collecting and preserving flies from your compost pile! Participation includes collecting flies every two weeks from May to early winter, preserving them in ethanol, and then sending your collections to us using a prepaid shipping label at the end of the season. We’ll provide all the tools you need as well as comprehensive online training. If you’re interested in being valuable citizen scientist, go to www.bergland-lab.org/backyard-evolution to sign up to be a collector! Contact us at virginia.backyard.flies@gmail.com with any questions.