Past Student Projects
Sarah Smolley, Sarah Jones, Ryan Sadler, Samantha McDonnel
PUTAH CREEK BABY BIRD HEALTH STUDY
Effects of ectoparasites on chicks hatched on Putah Creek. Research Team led by Bobby Walsh PhD candidate in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology Dept., hoping to explore whether high loads of mites on hatchlings affect their growth or health. Veterinary students will quantify and analyze mites.
Barbara Van Gilder
ENVIRONMENTAL FIELD PRACTICUM IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Kenya, Africa. A summer intensive program to study the effects of the Maasai culture on the environment, specifically asking questions that address the needs of migrating and dispersing wildlife and the conflict of humans in their ecosystems
"Working with the Maasai community was an incredible way to experience Kenya and to understand how people live, what their needs are and what their concerns are. I was really able to incorporate the human facet of the Conservation Medicine triad. I see now that the reason that so many conservation and animal health initiatives fail is that they do not take into account the human dimension of the problem, involve the community or address its needs. My eyes have certainly been opened".
Mary Straub, Kat Tomalty
WILDLIFE RESEARCH: KING EIDERS IN ALASKA
Students will participate in an ongoing project conducted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks evaluating the use of the Beaufort Sea by King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis). The study is conducted near Lake Teshekpuk on the North Slope of Alaska near the Beaufort Sea. The veterinary team is responsible for the handling, transport, anesthesia, surgery, recovery and release of the ducks which will be implanted with satellite transmitters. These ducks will then be tracked by the research team at UAF to describe their yearly migration patterns, as well as mating, breeding, and nesting behaviors while on the North Slope.
Marcia Merryman DVM MPVM
VETERINARIANS' PREPAREDNESS TO RESPOND TO A FOREIGN ANIMAL DISEASE (FAD) OR BIOTERRORISM (BT) EVENT
Several hundred veterinary practitioners in the western United States responded to a query about their sense of preparedness for FAD or BT events. The results suggest that they are inadequately primed to recognize or respond to such emergencies. In addition, respondents expressed a desire for further training in identifying and reporting these "red flag" clinical presentations.
Juliana Milani
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN TUNDRA SWANS: PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
It has been recognized that microorganisms in migratory waterfowl develop antibiotic resistance. Because little is known about Tundra Swans' potential in zoonoses, this study contributes important findings to the question of their role in public health.
