News from Scientists at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Monday, April 2, 2007
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Wildlife Toxicology Studies On March 28, Drs. Peter Albers, Paula Henry, Natalie Karouna-Renier and Barnett Rattner of the USGS-Patuxent Wildlife Research Center met with staff members of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine (CHPPM) at Aberdeen Proving Ground-Edge wood, Maryland. An overview of their ecotoxicological and human health research program and a facilities tour was provided by Dr. Mark Johnson of CHPPM. Dr. Rattner of Patuxent presented a seminar entitled "Wildlife toxicology studies at molecular through ecosystem scales of biological organization" to CHPPM staff members. Discussions ensued on potential collaborative work including ecotoxicological studies of energetic compounds, mercury pollution in the Bush River, biomarkers of environmental contamination, and human health risk assessments. Sam Droege, Wildlife Biologist and Rob Jean of the Missouri Department of Conservation will be conducting a workshop on Native Bee Identification, April 16-20. The overall objective is to create a pool or researchers, technicians, and advanced amateurs who can accurately identify bees for both their studies and more importantly for others. Lack of institutional identification experience has led to many errors in native bee research and monitoring and currently limits the creation of any extensive monitoring programs. The status of most bee populations is currently completely unknown. The workshop will be held at the PWRC facility on the campus of the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD. |
Whooping Crane Program Goes to School On March 21, 2007, Marilyn Whitehead of USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center visited J. L. Simpson Middle School to present certificates of appreciation to Mrs. Paula Myers 7th Grade Science Class. The class began studying the whooping crane and its recovery last October and decided to adopt 2 whooping crane eggs through the Friends of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and Patuxent Research Refuge (Friends). The Friends are a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization which provides support to both the US Geological Survey and the US Fish and Wildlife Service's missions on the Patuxent Refuge. The contributions from the Simpson Middle School went directly towards the hatching and rearing of the class of 2006 whooping crane chicks. The class was curious to see if their chicks were part of the devastating loss of the class of 2006 and contacted the Friends organization for more information. The Friends in turn invited USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to go with them to the school and help answer questions about the whooping crane program. |
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