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Conservation students tag monarch butterflies to help save the endangered species

Mariam Aburdeineh — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 17:05:52 +0000

Conservation students tag monarch butterflies to help save the endangered species Mariam Aburdeineh Mon, 12/05/2022 - 12:05

Monarch butterflies in Michoacan, Mexico. Photo by Getty Images.

Many creatures migrate to warmer habitats for the winter, but no insect does so quite as uniquely and spectacularly as the monarch butterfly.

From the United States and Canada, tens of millions of monarchs fly each year to a place they—and the previous butterfly generation before them—have never been before: tall trees found in a few mountain forests in central Mexico. Their tiny wings can take them on a roughly 2,500-mile transcontinental journey to these beautiful butterfly sanctuaries.

Protecting an Endangered Species

In late September, 18 undergraduates from the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation‘s (SMSC) Wildlife Ecology and Conservation program tagged monarch butterflies on their journey south to help researchers better understand their grand migration.

“It’s important to track [their movement] because monarchs are listed as an endangered species as of this summer [by the International Union for Conservation of Nature],” said senior environmental and sustainability studies major Nadia Gray.

Gray, who said she previously volunteered with the Norfolk Botanical Garden as a butterfly docent, is attending her second semester at SMSC. The Virginia Beach native said monarchs are facing threats including habitat loss, air pollution, and climate change.

“[Tagging] allows us to hopefully track some of them along the way south, but also to see what proportion of the tagged butterflies end up in central Mexico,” said Assistant Professor of Conservation Science Joshua Davis.

According to the nonprofit citizen-science program Monarch Watch, tagging also helps answer questions about the origins of monarchs that reach Mexico, the timing and pace of their migration, factors that impact their survival rates, and more.

SMSC student Spencer Harman (left) holds a monarch butterfly for tagging with guidance from Professor Joshua Davis. Photo by Mariam Aburdeineh.

Elusive Flyers

Using aerial nets with a delicate fabric to protect the butterflies, the students spent two afternoons in the fields at SMSC’s Front Royal campus to capture the fluttering insects.

On the second afternoon, the students caught three monarchs and placed sticker-like tags with serial codes on the butterflies’ hind wings.

SMSC student Nadia Gray using an aerial net to catch butterflies in the field. Photo by Cristian Torres.

“It is no small feat to catch these butterflies,” said Davis, who purchased the tags from Monarch Watch and has participated in the program with SMSC students since 2018. “If they’re going to survive this many thousands, many hundreds of miles journey south, they have to be pretty robust fliers.”

Even with many people, catching monarchs can be difficult. On the group’s first afternoon in the field, they were slightly ahead of most monarchs’ migration. The very few monarchs they did see were too swift to catch.

Still, the group learned more about butterflies and caught, identified, and released nine other butterfly species, including whites and sulfurs, and the common buckeye.

Information being recorded on one of the tagged monarch butterflies. Photo by Mariam Aburdeineh.

On the second day in the field, the butterflies were also difficult to catch because of the wind, but students like senior environmental science major Spencer Harman were determined to succeed. That kind of determination is central to the Mason experience, which challenges us to show up ready to work that much harder in our quest to solve problems through critical actions and research.

“More likely than not, [the monarchs] were actually in the trees,” said Harman, who caught one that dropped out of a tree in front of him.

The Place for Aspiring Conservationists

Being in the field for experiential learning is one of the highlights of Harman’s SMSC experience, he said.

“I’ve been interested in SMSC since high school and now that I’m here, it’s really interesting how specific we can get into the field of conservation,” said Harman, who grew up in Gainesville, Virginia.

“You get to have lots of hands-on experiences and then you get to meet with conservation professionals—it’s a really whole experience for anyone who wants to be, or is interested in, being a conservationist.”

Gray agreed.

“It’s just a good place to come if you need to get your foot in the door in the world of conservation, or if you want to make those connections with people that are working for, say, the Smithsonian or Virginia Working Landscapes.”

It’s a rewarding experience for professors, too.

“The thing I enjoy most about being here at SMSC is just the unique opportunities we have from an educational perspective,” Davis said.

“The student engagement is really fantastic,” he added. “It’s a self-selected group, and they’re really, really interested in this sort of thing. It makes teaching a lot of fun.”

Learn More about the Smithsonian Mason School of Conservation

Topics

Conservation

Conservation Biology

environmental science

Road salt gets rid of ice, snow…and ecosystems? New student research addresses community-based solutions.

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 15:47:36 +0000

Road salt gets rid of ice, snow…and ecosystems? New student research addresses community-based solutions. Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 04/28/2022 - 11:47

Learn more about SMSC

Road salt has been touted as a lifesaver when it comes to combatting icy roads. Yet using this snow-melting mineral has a dark side once it enters waterways. Graduating senior Maggie Walker, through the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC), is gathering data at local streams to influence change.

“When excessive road salts get into streams, they can have devastating effects on the ecosystems in the streams,” said Julia Sargent, director of programs at Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. “The salts impact vegetation and very small river life, and that in turn can have effects on larger life, like fish, and in high concentrations, those salts may not be filtered out by our water treatment plants.”

Maggie Walker, Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation student, collects water samples in Strasburg, Virginia to measure road water pollution. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/��AV

The Impact of Road Salts

Chloride pollution, which mainly comes from road salt, can also lead to corrosion, changed soil compositions, fish die-offs, algae blooms, and more, said Walker, who is partnering with Sargent’s organization for her SMSC practicum. “For people that need to be on low salt diets, they can actually exceed their daily salt requirement just from their drinking water, so that can end up being a health concern.”

Walker’s research is assessing the scope and impact of road salts locally.

Walker, an Honors College student studying biology, selected four streams near urban land cover, including sidewalks, parking lots, and cities, that are likely to be vulnerable to chloride pollution. For five weeks this semester, she has been heading to those streams to record the water temperature and collecting samples of stream water to measure chloride levels.

“It’s important that we establish what are the baseline levels of chloride in our waterways,” Walker said. “That way we can test it throughout the years, throughout the seasons, see when levels fluctuate, when they’re highest, how road salting events impact the water quality.”

Walker measures the chloride levels using a QuanTab strip. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

Engaging the Community

There’s also a community aspect to the project that Sargent said Walker helped inspire.

“I’m creating a survey about people’s attitudes and behaviors toward road salt and road salt usage,” said Walker, which aligns with her interest in the intersection of conservation, human well-being, and community involvement. “We’re hoping to disseminate it to people who live in the North Fork… and then ultimately, using the data, determine one behavior to target for change.”

Though changing behavior and reducing road salt usage is outside the scope of this semester, Walker said the research is an important first step.

Walker, who is originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said she chose ��AV because she wanted to attend a school with excellent research opportunities, like SMSC.

“This program is helping me develop a lot of skills in a wide variety of areas within conservation that I wouldn’t have had otherwise,” Walker said. “My experience at SMSC has been really awesome.”

“Getting to hear from and work with so many different conservation professionals is really inspiring,” Walker said, adding that they actively engage with students.

It’s rewarding for mentors, too.

“It’s been inspiring to get to know and work with these young people who are just getting their start along their career paths in conservation,” Sargent said. “Seeing their passions and being a part of that process is a big honor.”

SMSC is not an opportunity to pass up.

“If you are even remotely interested in conservation, you should definitely make every effort you can to come out and enjoy SMSC,” Walker said. “It really sets you up for success in conservation [by] introducing you to all the opportunities and allows you to explore things while you’re still in college.”

“If you’re a conservation-minded person, this is definitely the place to be.”

Maggie Walker collects water samples in Strasburg, Virginia to measure salt water pollution. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/��AV

Topics

Conservation

Conservation Biology

Undergraduate Education

biology

Biology Research

College of Science

experiential learning

Campus News

Smithsonian-Mason team keeps watch, so elephants can doze off

Colleen Rich — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 16:22:41 +0000

Smithsonian-Mason team keeps watch, so elephants can doze off Colleen Rich Fri, 12/17/2021 - 11:22

Learn more about SMSC

Because elephants only sleep three to four hours a night, and frequently wake during that time, their sleep is a precious commodity.

Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation student Eva Noroski (left) works with Mason Alumna and Elephant Trails Keeper Ashley Fortner to research elephant sleep patterns at the National Zoo. Photo by: Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications/��AV

That’s why ��AV senior Eva Noroski has spent a month this semester assisting 2017 Mason alumna and Elephant Trails keeper Ashley Fortner at the National Zoo, researching how these massive mammals can get optimal sleep.

“Sleep is super important for the elephants because they don’t actually do a lot of it,” said Fortner, who studied for a year at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC).

“Eva’s work is actually directly, every day, impacting how we take care of the elephants.”

Noroski has been accessing footage from the Smithsonian’s camera system to monitor the elephants from 5 p.m. until 5 a.m., and logging what she observes. In particular, she’s tracking Kamala, a female elephant who has arthritis, which causes her difficulty in laying down and getting up.

“I’m trying to determine which elephants she sleeps best with, if she sleeps best by herself, if there are any social dynamics that appear during the night that I can let the keepers know about,” said Noroski, an environmental science major and conservation studies minor. “That’s all really significant information because their sleep is important to their health, and if any mammal is losing sleep, they could become more susceptible to illness.”

Noroski’s findings will help management create pairings that offer the best sleep for each of their five elephants, said Fortner, who graduated from Mason with a integrative studies degree and a concentration on applied global conservation.

When Noroski isn’t behind the computer, she can be found performing zookeeping tasks, and shadowing Fortner as she interacts with, trains, and completes wellness checks with the elephants.

“I have made great connections, not only with people here at the zoo, but also with my [SMSC] teachers who are active conservationists,” Noroski said. “They’re super willing to help students find opportunities as well as connect us with other people—that’s a really unique thing you can’t just get in any conservation program.”

That’s exactly why Fortner said she also “fell in love” with the SMSC program.

“It means so much,” Fortner said of being able to mentor students in the same way she was mentored. “Once I found my path, I found that having those practicums and hands-on learning experiences helped me make that decision.”

“For the mentor side of it, it’s giving back to the conservation community,” she said. “It was really important for me to not only take care of elephants and give back to conservation in that way, but to help people that also want to do this see that this is possible.”

Noroski, who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said she chose Mason after researching schools with the best conservation programs.

Being at SMSC with a small cohort of students and teachers is one of the most rewarding parts, she and Fortner agreed.

“It’s a great program where you get really personal attention, as well as amazing practical experience that you will not just be able to find anywhere else,” Noroski said. “You are put in a position where you are pretty much handed useful, practical experience in the real working world.

“That’s invaluable when you’re an undergrad and trying to get your foot in the door,” she said.

Topics

Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Conservation

Conservation Biology

conservation-learning environment

Undergraduate

Undergraduate Education

undergraduate research opportunities

School of Integrative Studies

environmental science

Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP)

Sustainability

Sustainability Research

Podcast - EP28: Spencer Crew: At the intersection of museums and social justice

Damian Cristodero — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 14:27:06 +0000

Podcast - EP28: Spencer Crew: At the intersection of museums and social justice Damian Cristodero Wed, 07/14/2021 - 10:27

In This Story

Gregory Washington

Spencer Crew

Spencer Crew, a Robinson Professor of U.S. history at ��AV, and the first African American to head a major Smithsonian museum when he led the National Museum of American History, tells Mason President Gregory Washington about the evolving role museums play in society, and how the Black community and those who work with it are trying to be the conscience of the nation.

Topics

Access to Excellence podcast

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Juneteenth

Gregory Washington

New research coming out of its shell: Mason, Smithsonian study could help save wood turtles

Mariam Aburdeineh — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 21:19:17 +0000

New research coming out of its shell: Mason, Smithsonian study could help save wood turtles Mariam Aburdeineh Tue, 02/23/2021 - 16:19

Two SMSC research students and a Turtle Conservation Ecology intern surveying for Wood Turtles in Virginia. Photo credit: Jessica Meck

For decades, research on wood turtles—a threatened reptile species native to North America—has focused on trying to better understand and protect their populations. But there’s one area of wood turtle research that’s been lacking. This spring, a team from ��AV, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), and the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) is heading to the streams to fix that.

Hunter VanDoren holding a juvenile wood turtle. Photo Credit: Jessica Meck

“The assumption with animals that have a long-life history, like turtles do, is that adult survival is really the most important thing to focus on for conservation,” said J. Hunter VanDoren, a Mason environmental science and policy PhD student and graduate fellow with SCBI. “But you can’t leave out juveniles, and they have largely been left out of the literature.”

VanDoren, a Front Royal native who interned with SCBI before becoming a graduate fellow, is part of a team headed by Mason alumnus and Smithsonian researcher Tom Akre, who’s been developing science for the conservation of threatened turtles for more than 20 years.

Virginia wood turtle habitat consists of both upland protected forest regions and lowland mixed agricultural areas. Surprisingly, Akre’s data showed juvenile recruitment to be low at protected upland sites, despite reproductive rates remaining high and the land being preserved. To understand why, the team’s research will be of particular importance. It will also be a final piece needed to conduct Integrated Population Modeling and inform a Population Viability Analysis.

A juvenile wood turtle. Photo credit: Jessica Meck

To understand the factors involved and how juveniles fare in both habitats, VanDoren will be putting radio transmitters on the young turtles (primarily identifiable by the length of their shell) and tracking them to estimate their known fate (an estimation of survival probability).

Each week, VanDoren will check on the turtles, collecting data on their status, survival, and location, as well as qualitative habitat data. Later, he will analyze the results in the lab.

The goal is to track 30 turtles at each site, but that will depend on how many juveniles can be captured and tracked, VanDoren said, adding that part of the reason juvenile research is limited is because individuals are elusive and difficult to study.

A radio-telemetry antenna used to track wood turtles at a SCBI study site in VA. Photo credit: Jonathan Drescher-Lehman.

“Juveniles are the missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding their life history, how populations are reacting to land use change, and all the threats they face from habitat loss and fragmentation, road mortality, and illegal collection for the pet trade,” said Jessica Meck, Turtle Conservation Ecology project manager. “The pieces already in place are important for conservation of the species…but the missing data on juvenile survival is particularly crucial for informing landscape-scale conservation in Virginia.”

In addition to their hands-on research, Meck and VanDoren have been mentoring an undergraduate SMSC student each semester. These undergraduates learn experientially by supporting the team in the field and lab.

Jessica Meck holding an adult wood turtle. Photo provided.

Teaching the future generation of conservationists is of critical importance, Meck said, adding that the applied conservation experience is rewarding for both mentor and mentee.

As a student, VanDoren agrees.

“Something I didn’t fully grasp as an undergraduate was just how important the experience itself is in comparison to just learning something out of a book,” he said. “It’s the experience that develops you as a scientist and allows you to fully understand what it is you’re doing and why.”

From networking with leading researchers and academics, to the experiential learning, VanDoren said his experience has been unrivaled.

“I’ve had great mentors, I’ve had great courses that I’ve learned a lot from,” he said. “I would strongly encourage anyone who’s interested in looking into Mason to do so—the opportunities are absolutely incredible and it’s been a fantastic experience at Mason and SCBI.”

Topics

Department of History and Art History

Mason students curate an online exhibition of paintings from Smithsonian collection

Colleen Rich — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 09:00:50 +0000

Mason students curate an online exhibition of paintings from Smithsonian collection Colleen Rich Mon, 06/22/2020 - 05:00

Topics

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Student Research

coronavirus; COVID-19; News; Editorial

Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP)

Five environmental science students receive Cosmos grants to tackle critical conservation research

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 00:05:00 +0000

Five environmental science students receive Cosmos grants to tackle critical conservation research Mariam Aburdeineh Wed, 03/18/2020 - 20:05

Five PhD students in Mason's Department of Environmental Science and Policy received grants from the Cosmos Club Foundation to conduct conservation research. Chase LaDue, one of the grantees, is studying male Asian elephants. Photo provided.

Around the world, environmental crises are making headlines, from the potential extinction of species and ecosystems to climate change. Students in ��AV’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP) are driven to make a change.

This year five PhD students in the department received grants from the Cosmos Club Foundation to tackle a wide range of conservation efforts.

In any given year, Mason has received one or two Cosmos grants, said Kathryn Agoston, director of Graduate Fellowships. “To earn five is very exciting.”

The role Mason students play in helping the earth is extremely fundamental, said A. Alonso Aguirre, ESP department chair. Mason’s top-tier faculty, R1 research status and unparalleled opportunities in the backyard of the nation’s capital help take their impact to a new level, he said.

“Now more than ever you see the passion of students to work with species and ecosystems that are threatened, mostly by human impact,” Aguirre said. “They are committed to solving actual problems.”

The Cosmos Scholars grant program is open to graduate students in the Washington, D.C., area in all fields of study. Mason’s Office of Graduate Fellowships is also available to help students secure similar funding opportunities.

“The goal is to provide applicants with the support they need to put forward the strongest possible application,” Agoston said, adding that some awards qualify for additional university support including tuition assistance and health insurance. “We have policies in place to help ensure that these costs do not create a barrier to our students accessing prestigious, nationally competitive awards.”

Here is how Mason’s Cosmos Scholars are making an impact:

Cosmos Scholar Meadhbh Molloy. Photo provided.

Meadhbh Molloy:
Exploring Beyond Face Value

In one of her first graduate classes on disease ecology, Meadhbh Molloy read a paper projecting the extinction of Tasmanian devils. An aggressive and highly contagious facial cancer would likely be the cause of termination within a couple decades, the researcher estimated. The species is endangered, but they have not become extinct.

“[The cancer] spreads like crazy and almost always leads to death,” Molloy said. “But [Tasmanian devils] are persisting in the wild, and no one really knows exactly how.”

Since the class, Molloy said she became fascinated by how species co-evolve with diseases.

“When I learned that diseases were in a way caused by pathogens trying to survive, I started to understand their role in ecology and how they’ve shaped the evolution of other life forms,” Molloy said.

Through the Cosmos grant and an award from the American Australian Association, Molloy will spend up to a year in Australia, working in a lab at the University of Sydney, where she will be analyzing devil fecal samples. She will also be potentially looking at the species’ microbiomes and parasite loads to see if there are differences between diseased wild devils and cancer-free wild devils.

“It’s all about making sure they are successful when they’re released into their native habitat,” said Molloy, who first realized she could have a career with endangered species after a field trip and Mason courses at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” the Northern Virginia native said. “I’m looking forward to a lot of personal growth and being able to work with the species that I have been thinking about since I first started my masters.”

—Mariam Aburdeineh

Tovah Siegel, pictured here in the Peruvian Amazon, holds a few piranhas she caught for dinner that night. Photo provided.

Tovah Siegel:
Her Own Best Advocate

Tovah Siegel had never met or spoken to Thomas Lovejoy, and knew him only as the world’s preeminent conservation biologist. But that did not stop Siegel from emailing the Mason University Professor to ask if he would be her advisor as she pursued her PhD in environmental science and policy at Mason.

One return email and three or four phone calls later, he agreed.

“You have to advocate for yourself,” said Siegel, who is from Oregon and earned her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Puget Sound in Washington.

Siegel, who is also a Smithsonian Fellow at the National Museum of Natural History, is studying the interactions of species and how forest fragmentation in the Brazilian Amazon impacts those interactions.

“A lot of research looks at how one species responds individually to fragmentation. But there isn’t a lot of research about how species A impacts species B that relies on species A,” Siegel said. “You can take that information and say we shouldn’t be looking at one species. We should be looking at these ecosystems as a complex array of interactions.”

Siegel, who previously used a Boren Fellowship to take field courses in the Amazon, will continue her research with the help of the Cosmos grant.

—Damian Cristodero

Chase LaDue with an elephant at the Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Photo provided.

Chase LaDue:
Where the Elephants Are

African elephants have had a time in the spotlight when it comes to research and media, due to the ivory crisis. But a different elephant species doing worse in terms of survival has received far less attention. Chase LaDue is changing that with his research of male Asian elephants in Sri Lanka.

“I study male Asian elephants in particular because they’ve been less studied than African elephants, and male elephants are unique because they go through this period called musth,” said LaDue, a Dallas native. “It’s completely unique, only elephants do it.”

Musth, which means “intoxicated” in Urdu, is similar to rutting season for a deer, LaDue explained. Testosterone levels and aggression are high, but unlike for other animals, there is no predictable musth season.

Elephants in musth can also pose an economic burden, he said.

“Elephants will raid farmers’ crops, so that can be dangerous to the people that live around elephants, and a single elephant can wipe out a farmer’s crop for the entire year,” LaDue said.

Through behavioral observations and analyzing hormones in fecal samples, LaDue will examine what environmental and social factors influence musth. Because Asian elephants are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the findings could also contribute to understanding how to better conserve their populations.

This year marks the second time LaDue has earned a Cosmos grant. He also received a Fulbright scholarship to go to Sri Lanka in 2019, but had to return to the United States early due to terrorism in the country. Being able to continue his studies is both validating and rewarding, he said.

—Mariam Aburdeineh

Betsy Collins:
Leafing for Answers

Collins standing next to a palo santo tree in the Marañón Valley, Peru. Photo provided.

From churches to yoga studios to individual homes, communities have been burning palo santo—holy wood—for generations. The South American plant similar to frankincense and myrrh is primarily used as incense, and it has been so widely marketed that its populations are declining due to habitat loss. Betsy Collins hopes her research can help save the species.

“It’s really important when you’re planting for reforestation that what you’re planting is genetically diverse,” said Collins, who is from West Palm Beach, Florida. “I’m looking at comparing the genetics of the replanted populations with the natural population to see [whether] they are in line or can be doing better in our reforestation projects.”

A National Geographic grant in 2018 took Collins to Peru, Mexico and Colombia to collect leaf samples and preserve the plants’ DNA. With her Cosmos grant, she will work in Mason’s labs to extract and analyze the DNA from those hundreds of samples, she said.

“No country has unlimited sources for conservation,” Collins said. “I hope that this research can give some ideas as to where are some really unique genetically diverse populations that we should look at protecting.”

—Mariam Aburdeineh

Charles Coddington:
Flocking to the Amazon

Cosmos Scholar Charles Coddington. Photo provided.

Birds of a feather may flock together, but to avoid predators, birds of different species will do the same. Once at their destination, Charles Coddington wants to know how deforestation and habitat fragmentation affect them.

“One of the most critical [threats] to conservation is the loss of diversity,” said Coddington, who graduated from Mason in 2018 with a master’s in evolutionary biology and returned to the university for his PhD. “I hope that my research will help contribute to better restoring biodiversity to fragmented landscapes.”

Mix-species flocks are found on every continent except Antarctica, Coddington said, and they are especially prevalent in the Amazon. Hundreds of birds and dozens of species fly there, he said.

Going into Amazonian forests, Coddington will study how these birds use regenerating forest fragments, and how their nesting behaviors are affected in forests that have developed naturally (primary forests) versus forests recovering from human disturbances (secondary forests).

After finding the nests, Coddington said he will set up camera traps to record what happens when predators are near. He will also set up artificial nests in primary and secondary forests “to see if predation is one of the limiting factors that’s preventing [birds] from successfully breeding in secondary forests.”

The opportunities Coddington has had at Mason, including a fellowship with the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, and the Cosmos grant, have allowed him to foster a community and conduct meaningful research, he said.

“This is the time to get involved in conservation of species and ecosystems as many factors are threating the health of all,” Aguirre said.

—Mariam Aburdeineh

Student Research

World-class research

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environmental and sustainability studies

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Thomas Lovejoy

A. Alonso Aguirre

Office of Fellowships

Research

Red pandas on red alert: Mason student, alumni conduct research to save endangered species

Mariam Aburdeineh — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 15:30:00 +0000

Red pandas on red alert: Mason student, alumni conduct research to save endangered species Mariam Aburdeineh Mon, 12/02/2019 - 10:30

Saving an endangered species is possible, but it takes a village. Conservationists, including three ��AV alumni working at the Smithsonian and a current student, are part of the team at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) working to ensure red pandas move off the endangered list.

“Our main focus is breeding, expanding the population and looking at genetics,” said SCBI’s carnivore curator Juan Rodriguez, BS Biology ’09. In the event that something catastrophic happens in the wild, their goal is to have a genetically viable population in captivity to stave off extinction, he said.

Rodriguez and his team help produce red panda and clouded leopard cubs and maned wolf pups, he said. This year, 4-year-old red panda Moonlight gave birth in June.

Moonlight's new cub was born in June. Photo by Jessica Kordell/Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

Since April 2018, Monika Conrad, an environmental science and policy graduate student, has been conducting behavioral research on the red pandas, including Moonlight and her cub, at SCBI and the National Zoo as part of her master’s program.

“The idea is to understand what disturbs red pandas, what changes their behaviors and their physiology, to see what may negatively impact welfare,” said Conrad, who also assists the undergraduate students in their research at SMSC. “If we can give them the best possible welfare, we can improve breeding success.”

Conrad, who came to Mason after learning about Mason School of Integrative Studies professor and Mason alumna Elizabeth Freeman’s red panda research during a Smithsonian internship, spent 14 months observing the animals and logging their behaviors. She also recorded the climate (temperature, humidity and wind speed), noise levels, and zoo visitor numbers to see if and how these environmental factors influence red pandas.

This semester Conrad spends her days in the SCBI endocrine lab, extracting hormones from the red panda’s fecal samples. Later, she’ll analyze the behavioral data with the hormone concentrations to see if there are connections between the two.

Jessica Kordell, who has been an animal keeper at Smithsonian since 2007, helped hand-raise Moonlight when she was a cub, and continues to provide care for SCBI’s red pandas and clouded leopards. The Mason alumna, who earned her master’s in environmental science and policy in 2017 and studied under Professor Freeman, also mentors undergraduate practicum students attending SMSC.

Mason student Monika Conrad (left) and Mason alumna Jessica Kordell. Photo by Evan Cantwell/��AV

Working with the young cubs and educating students are the most rewarding parts of her job, Kordell said.

“The work that we do here, both with the students and with the animals day-to-day, really matters because we are in this stage where if we don’t work hard to save them or save their environment, [the species] could be gone,” Kordell said.

Moonlight's cub. Photo by Evan Cantwell

Kordell said her Mason experience was significant for her career.

From courses on climate change to learning about collecting genetic samples noninvasively, her classes “really helped me understand more about what I do as a professional and how that actually helps save our species.”

The preservation extends beyond the animals, since each species plays a unique role in the ecosystem and in everyone’s survival, Kordell and Rodriguez agreed.

“Students like Monika are excellent for what we do,” Rodriguez said. “It’s really very fulfilling to see that such a younger generation is ready to go out there and preserve these amazing species.”

This semester Conrad spends her days in the SCBI endocrine lab. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

Conrad and undergraduate students at SMSC work directly with scientists who are at the forefront of conservation research. It’s an unparalleled experience, as most students would otherwise learn about these topics from books or videos, Rodriguez said.

“It’s amazing to be here as a student,” Conrad said. Both the Smithsonian scientists and Mason professors are eager to answer questions and inspire the next generation of conservationists, she said.

“[You’re] never going to be able to find another program that can really immerse [you] in conservation like coming to SMSC will,” Conrad said. “I love that I’ve been able to have this opportunity—not just the knowledge, but the opportunities to connect with these researchers and learn more.”

Moonlight and her cub. Photo by Evan Cantwell/��AV

Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute