Independent student research projects
Undergraduate students at WSU are involved in all aspects of my research program. Though many are involved with ongoing research involving Hg in the Great Salt Lake, others develop their own unique research experiences. Below are examples of past and current independent research projects from students in the Brasso Lab. These projects are ones in which students took active roles in the experimental design, data collection, and dissemination of their results.
Microhabitat conditions in songbird nestboxes
Kimberlee Whitmore (Zoology graduate, '22) received a $1000 exploratory research grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) to measure ambient conditions inside of black-capped chickadee nestboxes on campus and at higher elevation in North Fork Park (Eden, UT). She used iButton temperature recording devices inside of nestboxes during the breeding season to determine if temperatures differed inside vs outside of the nestbox. In addition to monitoring nestbox temperatures, Kimberlee checked all nestboxes every four days to monitor reproduction in nesting chickadees.
Mercury concentrations in Bluegill (Lepomis
macrochirus) and Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) in local fishing ponds along the Wasatch Front.
Dillon Flowers (Zoology graduate, '21) created a novel research project on measuring Hg in fish from recreational fishing ponds along the Wasatch Front. Dillon was awarded a Short-term Research Grant from OUR to collect fish and analyze them for Hg. Dillon spent the summer and Fall of 2020 catching and dissecting the fish to prepare their tissues for Hg analysis. He conducted all Hg analysis and sent samples to another lab for stable isotope analysis to better understand the diet of the fish. Dillon presented his preliminary findings at the Research and Engagement Symposium in Spring 2021 and we are currently writing a manuscript for publication.
Mercury exposure in gentoo
penguin (Pygoscelis papua) chicks on sub-Antarctic and Antarctic islands
Through a collaboration with graduate student David Schutt at the University of Colorado, Lisa Stoneham ('19) and Megan Faulkner ('20) analyzed Hg in feathers from gentoo penguins. The feathers were sent to our lab for analysis and Lisa and Megan conducted all Hg analysis and analyzed the data. They presented a poster on their findings at the Utah Conference on Undergraduate research in February 2019.