P-29 A Multi-year Study of the Biology and Paleobiology of Ground Squirrels
Presenter Status
Professor and Chair, Biology
Preferred Session
Poster Session
Start Date
4-11-2016 2:00 PM
End Date
4-11-2016 3:00 PM
Presentation Abstract
Ongoing support from the Office of Scholarly Research & Creative Scholarship, both with faculty grants and Undergraduate Research Scholarships, has helped me maintain an active lab with multiple opportunities for student research during the past decade. Students and I have investigated a range of questions that emerge at the nexus of a study of living and fossil ground-dwelling squirrels, often in collaboration with external colleagues, thus informing our understanding of the biology–and paleobiology–of this species-rich group. Among other things, our studies have a) supported informed inference of body mass (and, by extension, mass-related biology) of extinct giant ground squirrels (genus Paenemarmota); b) investigated hibernation in modern and fossil ground squirrels; c) explored short-term dietary variation and inferred seasonality preserved in the carbon isotope record of ground squirrel incisors, both modern and fossil; and d) elucidated the complex history of ground squirrels in the Meade Basin, southwestern KS, providing further evidence for a link between climate change and community composition (including a potential impact of short-term climate change caused by catastrophic Pleistocene volcanism). These results demonstrate the value of support from the Office of Scholarly Research & Creative Scholarship in maintaining a dynamic research environment–particularly one that engages students–on the Andrews University campus.
P-29 A Multi-year Study of the Biology and Paleobiology of Ground Squirrels
Ongoing support from the Office of Scholarly Research & Creative Scholarship, both with faculty grants and Undergraduate Research Scholarships, has helped me maintain an active lab with multiple opportunities for student research during the past decade. Students and I have investigated a range of questions that emerge at the nexus of a study of living and fossil ground-dwelling squirrels, often in collaboration with external colleagues, thus informing our understanding of the biology–and paleobiology–of this species-rich group. Among other things, our studies have a) supported informed inference of body mass (and, by extension, mass-related biology) of extinct giant ground squirrels (genus Paenemarmota); b) investigated hibernation in modern and fossil ground squirrels; c) explored short-term dietary variation and inferred seasonality preserved in the carbon isotope record of ground squirrel incisors, both modern and fossil; and d) elucidated the complex history of ground squirrels in the Meade Basin, southwestern KS, providing further evidence for a link between climate change and community composition (including a potential impact of short-term climate change caused by catastrophic Pleistocene volcanism). These results demonstrate the value of support from the Office of Scholarly Research & Creative Scholarship in maintaining a dynamic research environment–particularly one that engages students–on the Andrews University campus.
Acknowledgments
Ongoing support of the Office of Research & Creative Scholarship is gratefully acknowledged.