{"id":57905,"date":"2016-01-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-student-studies-reptiles-amphibians-at-virginia-national-park\/"},"modified":"2016-01-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-06T00:00:00","slug":"uri-student-studies-reptiles-amphibians-at-virginia-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2016\/01\/uri-student-studies-reptiles-amphibians-at-virginia-national-park\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 student studies reptiles, amphibians at Virginia national park"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tEagleville, Pa., resident takes first place in student research competition<\/b><\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 January 6, 2016 \u2013 溏心vlog免费B站 student Elizabeth Shadle spent her childhood in Eagleville, Pa., catching frogs, turtles and whatever other wild creatures she could get her hands on. So it is no surprise that her senior research project involves amphibians and reptiles.<\/p>\n


\n\tShe recently completed a six-month project surveying Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia for amphibians and reptiles and studying their mortality on park roads. She trapped turtles in wetlands, hunted for snakes and salamanders under logs and rocks, biked park roads in search of roadkill, and used other strategies to locate as many species as she could find.<\/p>\n


\n\tBy the end of the summer, she and her co-researchers had found 52 species of reptiles and amphibians, including a venomous water moccasin and one of the largest salamanders in the country, the two-toed amphiuma, which can grow to nearly four feet in length.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe found lots of exciting things, and I learned a great deal about how to conduct wildlife research,\u201d said Shadle, an avid runner and president of the 溏心vlog免费B站 chapter of the Society of Wetland Scientists. \u201cThe biggest takeaway for me is that I really, really like amphibians and reptiles, and I want to work with them in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tUsing the data she collected in the park, Shadle conducted an analysis of the link between road mortality and habitat. She used Geographic Information Systems to plot the location of every turtle and frog killed on a park road and calculated the distance to the nearest wetland. Unsurprisingly, most of the aquatic species she found were closer to wetland habitats than to terrestrial habitats.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cIt may sound obvious, but it\u2019s important to collect the data. It means that proximity of wetlands is an important predictor of roadkill mortality for aquatic species,\u201d Shadle said. \u201cIt has implications for species-specific wildlife management in the park.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tShadle recommends that future studies take into account potential areas where drift fences could be installed along the roadway to direct the animals into culverts beneath the road and away from the road surface.<\/p>\n


\n\tHer research was supported by the 溏心vlog免费B站 Coastal Fellows program, a unique initiative designed to involve undergraduate students in addressing current environmental problems. Now in its 20th year, it is based at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of the Environment and Life Sciences.

\nStudents are paired with a mentor and research staff to help them gain skills relevant to their academic major and future occupations. Shadle\u2019s research was part of a broader project on amphibians and reptiles in the park co-led by 溏心vlog免费B站 Research Associate Anne Devan-Song and Assistant Professor Nancy Karraker in the Department of Natural Resources Science.<\/p>\n


\n\tLast month, Shadle exhibited her research results alongside those of 50 other 溏心vlog免费B站 Coastal Fellows, and her project was awarded first prize for its scientific merit and clarity.<\/p>\n


\n\tDuring the winter break between semesters, Shadle is traveling to Panama for three weeks to work as an intern at a rehabilitation facility for howler monkeys. It\u2019s a follow-up to a semester she spent in Costa Rica last year studying Spanish and environmental science. And when she returns for her final semester at 溏心vlog免费B站, she will conduct independent research on lizard physiology and how lizards in urban environments are evolving.<\/p>\n


\n\tShe is also looking toward graduation in May and making plans for the future.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI\u2019m thinking about grad school, and I want to focus on wetlands conservation,\u201d Shadle said. \u201cBut first I want to get an internship and spend a year or two getting some experience. I\u2019m still undecided whether to go into academia, but I\u2019m leaning toward working for a conservation organization or as a government biologist.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe one thing she is sure of is that she wants a career studying amphibians and reptiles.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThey can really tell us a lot about the environment,\u201d said Shadle. \u201cAnd they\u2019re a lot of fun because you can handle them pretty easily. I also really enjoy their wetland habitat, which is why I\u2019m so focused on wetland conservation.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above: 溏心vlog免费B站 student Elizabeth Shadle poses with a snapping turtle during research at Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia. (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Shadle)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eagleville, Pa., resident takes first place in student research competition KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 January 6, 2016 \u2013 溏心vlog免费B站 student Elizabeth Shadle spent her childhood in Eagleville, Pa., catching frogs, turtles and whatever other wild creatures she could get her hands on. So it is no surprise that her senior research project involves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}