Meet Violet Clinton: New York student tracked 11,377 moths using beer-soaked T-shirts

At 16, Violet Clinton has turned her fascination with insects into an ambitious scientific research project, documenting 11,377 insects during a seven-month study of moth diversity and abundance in New York. A student at Horace Greeley High School, she spends two or three evenings a week exploring the Eugene and Agnes Meyer Nature Preserve in Armonk, using ultraviolet lights, a butterfly net and homemade bait made from bananas, brown sugar and beer to attract moths. Her research examines three habitats under different weather conditions and moon phases. The project has also earned her recognition at a scientific competition, where she secured second place among college and graduate student researchers, according to a report by The New York Times.How Violet Clinton tracked 11,377 moths in seven monthsClinton's interest in insects began during childhood, when she regularly searched for grasshoppers and other small creatures.