Aaron Sexton, a professor at Cornell, and his team of The Lab of Urban Plant Ecology (LUPE), have set up a nest for solitary bees who provide valuable services to the malls. The nest offers habitat for these bees and is being monitored for a research project. If you notice it at the 74th mall, please do not disturb it.

Their lab goals are to:

• Understand the drivers of biodiversity patterns & processes in urban ecosystems
• Protecting & facilitating ecological novelty & heterogeneity in cities
• Investigating, and where relevant, adopting novel management strategies
• Adapting horticultural landscapes to be more diverse & supportive of natural processes

More updates to come on this exciting study. It is so nice to see the malls used as a living laboratory!