By Kiersten Brackelman, Contributing Writer

The Comparative Cognition and Communication (C3PO) lab is holding its annual pumpkin patch fundraiser this year from October 14th to October 31st. This event takes place in the University Commons parking lot. It is open every day from 11 am to 5 pm. 

Lab director Dr. Heidi Lyn says, “We began running our pumpkin patch as a way to raise money for undergraduate research at my lab, the C3PO lab, in the Department of Psychology and the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences. We are a research lab, but we have a strong focus on teaching undergraduates and introducing them to scientific research. In the past few years, we started a program studying the behavior of hermit crabs.” 

They receive the pumpkins from the non-profit organization Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers. This organization is based in New Mexico on a Navajo reservation. Over 700 Native Americans are employed during the harvest months and grow 1,200 acres of pumpkins. For the pumpkin patch, an order of over 500 pumpkins is delivered by truckload. 

This includes not only classic orange pumpkins but a variety of more unique gourds that come in all shapes and sizes, including star gourds, swan gourds, “gizmos”, “snowflakes”, and “perfect” pumpkins. For smaller pumpkins, there are fixed rates ranging from $1 to $5, and larger pumpkins are priced individually based on size. 

“The proceeds from the pumpkins help pay for the crabs’ food, supplies, and research objects. This year we will be making mazes out of LEGO for the crabs! The pumpkin sales have also paid for undergraduates to travel, both to gather data at zoos and aquariums as far away as Bermuda and to present their data at conferences. We could not continue to do all we do without the sales from the pumpkin patch!” says Dr. Heidi Lyn. 

To find more information about the lab, check out their Instagram: @c3polab. For more information about Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers, go to their website, pumpkinsusa.com.