Over Washburn University's Spring Break three research students and I drove to Cedar Point Biological Station in Western Nebraska for a quick data collection adventure. I have a second long-term study population of ornate box turtles there and I wanted to get the turtle's brumation (hibernation) locations prior to them emerging in the spring. I am looking at brumation philopatry (basically how close to the same spot do indivduals brumate each winter) and thus needed to get these locations prior to the spring. The crew and I rented a vehicle and drove the seven (!) hours to Cedar Point. It was a tight fit, but we managed to pack all of our research equipment and supplies, plus our personal belongings in the back third of Nissan Pathfinder we rented. Two of my students, Aubrey and Brice, were taught radio telemetry basics by me and my first research student, Sam. While Aubrey and Brice learned telemetry and located turtles, Sam and I walked around and helped assist when possible. Eventually, when Sam could no longer stand not tracking a turtle by himself, I sent him off to find a rather difficult turtle. Of course, Sam found the turtle with no problem at all! Each of the three students that came with me on this trip will be returning to CPBS this summer. Sam and Brice will be teaching assistants for a three-week field class and Aubrey will be conducting a six-week behavioral syndrome (animal personality) study with two undergraduate collaborators (Megan and Natalie) from UNL. These three researchers will be extending my work that I did as part of my dissertation several years ago. I am particularly excited to see if the turtles display consistency in their behavioral traits across a five-year stretch! The project will be a lot of hard-work and will require great teamwork but I am confident these three will do an amazing job. The drive back from CPBS was also useful. Aside from listening to a ridiculous amount of country music we also managed to outline a research proposal for Aubrey to submit to Washburn University's WTE (Washburn Transformational Experience) granting committee. The funds we are requesting will help pay for radio transmitters, behavior assay supplies, and field equipment. We will also be submitting a similar proposal to Cedar Point to help pay for her room & board while there. Natalie and Megan will be submitting similar proposals to Cedar Point to cover the cost of room and board as well. Overall, it was a hugely successful trip where the students learned a great deal and I was able to collect all of the data I was hoping to. I must extend a huge shout out to the Washburn University Biology Department for helping covering the cost of the rented vehicle.
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Sam's research that focused on how animals move in response to varying macrohabitat temperatures was selected to be one of 4 projects presented by Washburn Students at the Undergraduate Research Day at the State Capital. Undergraduates were also selected to present from K-State, KU, Pittsburgh State, Emporia State, and Witchita State. The venue was held in the second floor rotunda of the State Capital Building. Each student was announced by name and presented with a certificate to signify their accomplishments. The student's research from around the state was not limited to just biology but music, art, psychology, chemistry, physics, sports medicine, etc. I only saw one other ecology project, a great piece of work regarding a bat survey in Missouri. Sam presented his work for about two hours. He spoke to many fellow researchers and their PI's (student research mentors) as well as politicians and interest groups. It seemed that many people were quite interested in Sam's work and we are hopeful that some additional good will come from presenting at this research day. I offered extra credit to my vertebrate zoology students (mostly junior/senior biology majors) to attend the undergraduate research day. I believe 13 out of 19 students came to support Sam and see the work of other undergraduates around the state! I am also hopeful that those students that attended this event will be motivated to do their own great research projects and potentially present here next year. Perhaps even a couple students will work with me and continue on with ornate box turtle research!
Last week four of my students (and myself) drove 5.5 hours in a rented van to Western Illinois University to attend the Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference (MEEC). This conference is entirely organized by graduate students each year and had over 300 attendees. The conference is dominated by undergraduate and graduate students, making it a friendly atmosphere for students to present their work. Steve, Olivia, Jake, and Colin all presented their individual research projects via posters. The weeks leading up to the conference were crazy trying to get our data compiled, organized, and analyzed so that we could make the posters. The students did a great job meeting at all hours of the day to get these posters made and printed. Overall, I could not be happier with the experiences the students gained. During the conference we listened to about 15 student talks (15 minutes apiece) and attended two keynote speaker presentations. The second keynote speaker was simply amazing, it was presented by Scott Mills. I am a true fanboy of his research and have been citing him since my inception as a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Scott Mills studies the movement and spatial ecology of snowshoe hares and with his collaborators have begun to do some fascinating genetic work and phylogenetic reconstruction of snowshoe hare lineages throughout North America. The work he presented during this conference focussed on the increasing mismatch of hare fur color (they turn white in the winter) and snow cover. The length of time that snow is on the ground is decreasing, which is bad for hares that turn white for the winter/early spring! Enough of me geeking out. Back to the students! The students each got an opportunity to present their work, recieve feedback, answer questions, and build both new research ideas and also foster future collaborations. Several of my students are thinking about graduate school after they graduate from Washburn so this type of networking can be critical to their chances of being successfully admitted into a graduate school. It is also great for my students to see the work of other students. Particularly, it is nice for my students to see what other opportunities are out there should they pursue graduate school. As for interacting with other undergraduate students and their research, I think it is nice for my students to see their work is just as good as other undergraduates at other institutions, which likely validates their work in their own minds. Further, I think presenting one's own research is a great way of maintaining (or increasing) motivation to continue on with a research project and continue to collect high quality data. I am excited that my students had a great time and all four said they would love to go back to a conference again in the future! I could not ask for more from my research students. Because this trip could not be all work, we stopped at a State Park (Mark Twain State Park) which was situated about halfway between Western Illinois and Washburn. We roamed around for about an hour, looking for animals and enjoying the unique habitat. We all agreed we'd definitely like to go back during the spring/summer. I highly recommend! |
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