George Mason Black Lighting Event Shines a Light on Moths

On a warm July evening, more than 30 members of the George Mason and local community gathered in the quiet darkness of the Foragers’ Forest, nestled at the edge of George Mason’s Fairfax campus, to observe a familiar yet often overlooked visitor—the moth.

Organized by environmental science and policy graduate student, Carsyn Bennett, and alumna Sarah Roth, MS environmental science and policy ’24, the black lighting event gave visitors a rare chance to observe and document this insect that Roth said is “a vital link in the local food chain, from native plants all the way up to birds."

Roth met Bennett, a self-described “moth nerd,” during a course led by Department of Environmental Science and Policy Professor Dann Sklarew, where students were already gathering ecological data from the Foragers’ Forest. 

“I got excited because caterpillars, the larval stage of moths and butterflies, are a crucial food source for birds,” said Roth. “There’s a lot of research showing how important native plants are for supporting those caterpillars. Since the Foragers’ Forest is filled with native plants and designed to be wildlife-friendly, it really shows how valuable this kind of space can be,” said Roth.

The forest is close to Roth’s heart, as it was her master’s thesis project organized alongside both Sklarew and Greenhouse and Gardens program manager Doni Nolan and planted in 2023. 

To prepare for the event, Roth and Bennett worked with the university’s facilities team to turn off surrounding lights, allowing moth-attracting black lights to do their job. White sheets were hung around the site, illuminated by portable black lights or, in one case, a high-tech multispectral light that attracted an array of species.

“Moths are important because they are nocturnal pollinators, filling a niche that other insects don’t really fill. While butterflies and bees are the pollinators most people think of, moths quietly play the same role at night,” said Bennett.

As the sun set around 8:30 p.m., the first moths began to appear. Over the next few hours, participants rotated between four observation stations, snapping photos and submitting their finds to the iNaturalist app, a tool that combines artificial intelligence with global user input to identify species in real time. Research shows that moths are far more numerous than butterflies. While butterflies make up around 7% of species in the Lepidoptera order (the insect classification that includes moths and butterflies), moths account for a staggering 93%.

“This site supports the full moth life cycle,” Roth said. “The caterpillars feed on native plants, and the adults come through at night to pollinate. It’s a cycle that happens mostly unseen, but it’s crucial.”

The event attracted a mix of people from professors and students to Fairfax Master Naturalists and curious community members.  With a smartphone and an app like iNaturalist, the event highlighted how anyone can become a citizen scientist. 

The group identified 39 moths and scores of other insects, including fireflies, fishflies, and beetles. During the event, Bennett’s former supervisor at Texas Parks and Wildlife, Sam Kieschnick, monitored iNaturalist in real time, verifying sightings to ensure they qualified as 'research grade,’ with others on-site doing the same. 

“I think citizen science is amazing because it breaks down barriers. In academia, there’s a lot of structure, which is necessary, but can feel unapproachable to those outside of it. Citizen science allows people who don’t necessarily have training or expertise in a given area to contribute valuable data,” said Bennett.

Bennett said a highlight of the event was the sense of community among attendees, adding that events like this allow people to explore their curiosities while contributing to something greater by providing valuable data that deepens our understanding of biodiversity.