Travel, travel, and more travel!

As an FLCC student, I often got amazing

opportunities to work “in the field”

with live wildlife. Photo credit: John Van Niel

As a student at Finger Lakes Community College, I was very fortunate to be able to participate in an undergraduate research study about black bear marking behaviors.

Coincidentally, a professor at FLCC, Jim Hewlett, wrote a grant to the National Science Foundation several years ago. In I believe 2011, FLCC was granted approximately $3.5 million dollars to start up the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative.

This was VERY exciting news for FLCC, but the grant has touched students at community colleges across the country. There are the 5 Original Regional Partners, 26 other Partners, and 4 New Regional Collaborators from New York to Hawaii, from Washington State to the Florida Keys. Check out the CCURI Partner Page to learn all about what kind of research CCURI students are participating in!

I’ve been able to present my study of these black bear behaviors several times over the past 2 years. I started out with local conferences: the 38th Rochester Academy of Science Paper Session, the 7th Annual Finger Lakes Research Conference, and the 3rd Annual State University of New York’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. Then I attended my first regional conference, the Northeastern Natural History Conference. I was receiving great feedback, people were interested in what I was learning about, and I felt I have a valid topic to share with other scientists.

This year I applied to, and was accepted to, the National Conference of Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I also was invited to attend our grant, CCURI’s, first national conference which was held in Bethesda, Maryland.

Learning about bears was always fun for me, so it amazes me that I just returned from 2 national conferences, and actually while I was in Wisconsin, I was applying for another one! I hope to present at the National Wildlife Society Conference being held in Milwaukee this fall.

My study poster, which I use when presenting.

Attending these conferences, whether there are 150 people like there was at the Finger Lakes Research Conference, or 3,500 people like at NCUR, is always exciting. I love to meet people. I also love sharing what I’ve been learning, as well as learning about what other students are up to across New York State, the region, and the country!



Presenting at Montgomery Community College in Maryland. March 2013. Photo credit: Michael Blocker



Presenting at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse. April 2013. Photo credit: Melissa Miller

 

CCURI and FLCC representatives at NCUR!
Melissa Miller (FLCC student), Michael McIntyre (FLCC student),
Dr. Beth VanWinkle (CCURI Project Director), and myself (FLCC alumni).

I know this isn’t a very exciting wildlife entry, I just wanted to share what I’m up to when I’m NOT in the field playing with bear cubs or camera traps! It’s exciting to be involved with something “bigger than myself”. I can not thank enough the CCURI team: Jim, Beth, Heather, and of course John. What you do, plus all of the other “staff” at other colleges, are doing, are amazing and progressive things for those of us who got our start at the humble community college.

(PLUS...I got to meet Trailblazer, and some of his amazing students!)

Week #12: The Final Pics

I should have posted this last week, but I am SO behind in my blogging. I am going crazy right now with wrapping up my time at this college, the semester, life in this town...and starting to think about moving to Alaska. In 20 days. 20 DAYS!

Last week on Monday, April 30th I wrapped up my data collecting for my independent study that's been running for the past 12 weeks at the Muller Field Station. To refresh, this study was funded by a National Science Foundation Grant, the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative. I was able to purchase 5 Cuddeback camera traps, various scent lures, and other sundry supplies like batteries, gloves, and scent pads. I've been checking the cameras weekly on every Monday since February 6th, 2012. The following are the pictures collected between 4/23 and 4/30.

Camera A

Raccoon

Canada Goose

Camera B

NO pictures for Camera B because I forgot to turn it on after the last time I was there checking the cameras. And wait til later in the post, when I share something cool. Really kicking myself...

Camera C - please note that the time stamps are wrong on these pictures. I'm not sure what happened, but I realize they are incorrect!

White-tailed deer

Red fox

Red fox

Red fox...there must be a den nearby!

Coyote

A male WTD with nubs!

And that's all she wrote! Officially through with collecting data. DONE! It was a wild 12 weeks, so much fun checking the cameras every week waiting to see what I got. I'm honestly surprised that I didn't get: beaver, striped skunk, black bear, or more river otter, mink, and muskrat.

This morning I got a call from Nadia, the K12 Outreach Coordinator at the field station. I've left the cameras up for her to continue to use with school groups that come and visit. She calls me in a frenzy this morning to tell me that we finally got this:

BAM. 3 days after I was "done" collecting data! AND this was on Camera B, the one I neglected to set correctly for the final week! I'm kicking myself. I can't believe this darn bear waited perhaps all 12 weeks before showing his/her face. I have been seeing bear sign for WEEKS at the field station, within eyesight of one of my camera sets! So frustrating, but VERY cool that it finally happened!



Now it's data time. I've been looking over and over at the data I collected which I've stuck into a spreadsheet in Excel. I'm also writing my final paper and drawing conclusions and "stuff". It's tedious, frustrating, but I'm very excited to see the final results.

SUNY Undergraduate Research Symposium 2012

On Wednesday of this week (2/29/12), I participated in a state-wide student poster presentation session. The State University of New York's college system held a student poster session in our state's capital, Albany, NY at the Empire State Plaza.

To back up a bit, the Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs at Finger Lakes Community College, Dr. Thomas Topping, had requested student presence at this symposium, to represent our college. I was asked to participate because of the work I've been doing studying black bear behaviors, signs, and markings. I've written about this many other times, check it all out if you want the back story: click me! I've been working under funding provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through a grant named: Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI). Two other classmates of mine came as well to present on their work done in Montserrat this past January.

This is my third time presenting the study, and it was the 'biggest' presentation yet. The other two were regional conferences- still great experiences, but at THIS one was all of the SUNY schools were represented, and the audience were members of the public, colleagues, and state legislators! The first conference that I participated in was the Rochester (NY) Academy of Science in October '11, and the second was the Finger Lakes Research Conference in November '11.

So, early Wednesday morning, the other two students (Barb and Courtney), and the CCURI Project Director, Beth VanWinkle and I loaded up and started our 4 hour trek East.

Photo credit: Beth VanWinkle

Once arriving at the Empire State Plaza, which is in downtown Albany, we had to negotiate one-way streets and try to find parking which was a bit of an adventure! Once we found parking, we had to then negotiate through the Plaza, which was like a subterranean city! It reminded me of an airport concourse/food court/mall...and office complex.

After a mile of walking, maybe not really a mile- but it felt like it!, we found the Legislative Office Building, where we were setting up and presenting.

Courtney and Barb looking relieved to have FINALLY made it!

After going through a security checkpoint, again like at an airport, we had to sign in and look for our booth. Set up was quick, as we just had to tack up our posters, and then it was time to turn on our sparkling charm and draw people in to speak about our amazing work in the field! Well..woods for me, and ocean for the other girls :)

Photo credit: Suzanne Myers

Photo credit: Suzanne Myers

I brought with me a rubber replication of a bear track, and the sources of information I had used during the study. The track was a hit (kind of), but people thought it was a real bear paw!

Photo credit: Beth VanWinkle

Not exactly a FLATTERING picture, but proof that I did present :) This woman seemed genuinely interested and asked me some good questions- which is always a redeeming feeling. For anyone who has participated in any level of research, you know that it feels great to be peppered with questions about your work! It's your baby and you want to take out that proverbial wallet and show off the accordian of photos!

Photo credit: Suzanne Myers

From left to right: Barb Dagata, the SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, Courtney Stein, and myself.

Photo credit: Suzanne Myers

Group photo!

Photo credit: Suzanne Myers

And before we left, we stopped for a picture on the SUNY 'red carpet'!

We came out of our subterranean conference to find winter decided to pop up again! Luckily we had a nice big 4WD Suburban to get us home safely.

It was a great day, awesome learning experience, and I had some awesome travel partners! Thanks for a great day.

Today was the day: camera trap deployment!

I've written several entries about my opportunity to participate in a Biological Research Methods independent study.

LONG STORY SHORT: It was being offered as a science elective, wasn't advertised, not enough students enrolled, course was cancelled, I begged and pleaded to be allowed to study independently, granted that opportunity, asked for National Science Foundation (NSF) Community College Undergrad Research Initiative (CCURI) money for supplies- got it...and now...here I am. Reality!

I've been agonizing about my experimental design, what my question is, how I'm actually doing all of this...and what I want to get out of my 12 week independent study using camera traps and scent lures. Today I sucked it up, decided and went forth with my journey!

I'll walk you through my day today!

I arrived at the field station around 8:40am this beautiful February day. I met Nadia, the field station's environmental education coordinator (who has been a HUGE advocate on my behalf, and has been interested in what I'm up to at the field station). Thank God she came today, or else I'd still probably be out on the trail wondering how to pace off my camera locations.


We gathered materials, discussed my methods and protocol. I took the time to photograph everything, because...I knew this blog was coming. And I may need/want the pictures in the future for a presentation!


I also started my journaling, as I've learned it's extremely beneficial to write EVERYthing down, no matter how insignificant the detail may seem at the time. Very helpful to see what was going on at the time. I'm sure there are details from this morning I couldn't recall without the help of my field journal!

The troops. Standing at attention!

And the sentinels...ready to bring in the crowd :)

Other important members of the show: a GPS, rubber gloves, and scent pads!

Things to keep in mind as you walk along the trail with me:

-Nadia and I attempted to figure out how to pace out the distances I needed between cameras. I had 2640 feet (1/2 mile) in a relatively straight line to set my cameras. When we left the starting point, I had 5 cameras to deploy (one broke, I'll explain later). So to equidistance the cameras, they needed to be ~528ft apart. We assumed our paces were ~2ft. So, we needed 264 paces. We only were able to pace off 4 times before we hit the end point. Luckily/coincidentally the camera was unusable, so it's a moot point!

-At each site, I gave myself ~10ft of buffer to find a suitable hanging spot.

-I only used naturally occuring growth to hang cameras, as opposed to using a T-post.

-I took a waypoint at each site using the GPS unit I had.

-I used a scent pad at each site, and coated both sides of it with appropriate scent.

-I found a thin, pencil-width, stick and stuck it within 10ft of the camera, in the line of vision to clip the scent pad to.

-I used fresh gloves each time I deployed a scent to try and minimize scent contamination.



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Setting the first camera trap: Site 1

Preparing the scent lure: 'Gusto'- STINKY, long-distance call, targeting carnivores, meant to be placed high and let the wind do the work. Last week I experimented, set it ~1ft off the ground and brought in a variety of critters. See previous entry.

Clipping the scent pad to a stick I placed in front of the camera.

And the final set up!

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Preparing scent for Site 2: 'Num-Chuck'- Smells like ground up vegetation, kind of grassy but with a little rotten fruit/vegetable in there as well. Not a putrid smell!

Site 2

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Scent for Site 3: 'Beaver Lure'- Ground up castor gland. Indescribable. Next time you're out hiking or paddling near/in a wetland, look for a beaver scent mound (small mud pile near waters edge), sniff that. Or attend a fur auction and ask to smell some castor. This is ACTUALLY from a real animal. Often the castor gland is worth more than the pelt! Very useful in luring in the beaver!

Site 3.

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Preparing scent for Site 4: 'Toxi-Dog'- Vile. Putrid. Yet, totally different than 'Gusto'. It's target species are the Canids. Let us see how it works!

Site 4.

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*You may have noticed that I only set 4 cameras, when I have 5. The fifth camera became broken somehow. The knob inside the cover was extremely wiggly and when we turned it to different functions, it would not list what we turned it to. AND the darn camera wouldn't shut off when switched to off. SO, it needs to be sent back to Cuddeback.

So that's it! I set them and now will put them out of my mind until next Monday! It's like Christmas morning for me when I'm checking my cameras, anticipating that huge buck, or a secretive weasel, or a ... the best gift of all a sow black bear with cubs! We shall see how the next 12 weeks unfurl. Cross your fingers for me :)

How beautiful of a day is this? The recorded high while I was out this morning: 37* F!!!

Help Wanted: Camera trappers, scientists, field/wildlife biologists!

I'm in need of some serious smarty-pants input here!

As I've mentioned in earlier posts (Research Methods in Biology), I'm beginning an undergraduate research field study next week.

Finger Lakes Community College was awarded a sizeable grant which is meant to promote research at the community college level across New York State. I happen to be here when the grant was awarded, and have amazing faculty and staff behind me motivating me to take advantage of the resources!

 

MY QUESTION: Having an issue narrowing it down...

-Effects of scent lures on medium to large sized mammals

-When are medium to large sized mammals most active?

-Does bait influence activity level?

I'm also having some issues with my experimental design....

Briefly: I have 4 Cuddeback Attack IR cameras. I have 5 scent lures (1 canine, 1 carnivore, 2 beaver, 1 woodchuck). I want to use scent lure. I only have 12 weeks to do this. Publishing is NOT an end goal, but would be a perk!

 

I am only using one beaver lure (both are made from castor glands). So I will have a total of 4 scents.

 I am using the Muller Field Station which is in Honeoye, NY. The habitat is a riparian area, with a mown walking path. I've experienced observing the following mammals in one way or another along the "channel path" as we call it: squirrel sp, beaver, muskrat, mink, red fox, river otter, black bear, weasel sp, mice sp, coyote, opossum, raccoon, white-tailed deer, etc etc...basically, lot's of critters!

Here's what I'm working with.

'Kiosk' is the start of the trail, 'Gate' is the end.

I have a half mile (2640ft) to work with, in pretty much a straight line. This is my transect. Here are the two scenarios I'm trying to decide between, and associated questions:

Scenario #1: I'm using 4 cameras, 4 scents. I divide the distance from Kiosk to Gate (2640ft) into 4 sections=660 ft gap between cameras. Week #1 I will randomize order of 4 scents, and deploy in front of cameras onto a scent pad. Weeks #2-#12 I will rotate the scent pad and refresh south one spot each time. The end scent pad will come back to the kiosk end. Etc etc. Each camera will have a repeat of each scent 3 times, for the same amount of time each time.

	Camera 1	Camera 2	Camera 3	Camera 4
Week 1     2/6	G	NC	B	TD
Week 2     2/13	TD	G	NC	B
Week 3     2/20	B	TD	G	NC
Week 4     2/27	NC	B	TD	G
Week 5     3/5	G	NC	B	TD
Week 6     3/12	TD	G	NC	B
Week 7     3/19	B	TD	G	NC
Week 8     3/26	NC	B	TD	G
Week 9      4/2	G	NC	B	TD
Week 10    4/9	TD	G	NC	B
Week 11    4/16	B	TD	G	NC
Week 12    4/23	NC	B	TD	G

 G- Gusto          TD- Toxi-Dog          B- Beaver Super All-Call          NC- Num-Chuck

Scenario #2: I use 5 cameras, 4 scent + 1 control (water). I divide the distance from Kiosk to Gate into 5= 528ft gap between cameras. Week #1 I will randomize order of scents + control, and deploy. Control camera would have a scent pad as well that would get a splash of bottled water. Weeks #2-#12 same as above. Each camera will NOT have a repeat of scents/control no more than 2 times, some may be 3 repeats depending on where it falls on my chart.

	Camera 1	Camera 2	Camera 3	Camera 4	Control Camera
Week 1     2/6	G	NC	B	TD	C
Week 2  2/13	C	G	NC	B	TD
Week 3  2/20	TD	C	G	NC	B
Week 4  2/27	B	TD	C	G	NC
Week 5   3/5	NC	B	TD	C	G
Week 6  3/12	G	NC	B	TD	C
Week 7  3/19	C	G	NC	B	TD
Week 8  3/26	TD	C	G	NC	B
Week 9   4/2	B	TD	C	G	NC
Week 10  4/9	NC	B	TD	C	G
Week 114/16	G	NC	B	TD	C
Week 124/23	C	G	NC	B	TD

G- Gusto         TD- Toxi-Dog          B- Beaver Super All-Call         NC- Num-Chuck         C- Control (water)

Three questions I have:

1. Is it necessary to have a control?
2. Are the camera/scents too close together? I'm concerned with scent drifting.
3. How should I hang cameras? Perpindicular to the trail, parallel to the trail, or at a 45* angle to the trail?

Success to me would be a rich diversity of mammal species camera trapped, and then watching frequencies of species.

Any and ALL input would be well received. I'm deploying the scent and cameras Monday morning, so I will take the rest of this week to fine-tune my protocol, then sit back and let the critters come to my cameras!

I stopped by the field station today to scope out the conditions. This is a picture of exactly where I'll be hanging my cameras! It was so warm (50*F!), drizzly, foggy...I felt like I was in a temperate rainforest!