Anoka-Ramsey Community College Students had the chance to conduct hands-on research on wolves twice at the Wildlife Science Center this semester.
By Heidi Holthus
Rampage Staff
For a second time this semester, students in Field Biology, Genetics, and Microbiology at Anoka-Ramsey Community College had the chance to participate in wolf research through the Wildlife Science Center.
Field Biology offers students the chance to get hands-on field research experience which is useful for many professions. This crucial experience spurs many a student’s interest in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields.
ARCC is one of 27 community colleges participating in undergraduate research programs funded by a National Science Foundation TUES (Transforming Undergraduate Research in STEM) III grant that is worth $3.8 million.
Jennifer Braido, Anoka-Ramsey Community College Field Biology Professor, says that many students “very much enjoyed the opportunity to get real experience.”
On October 18, Field Biology students traveled to the Wildlife Science Center to perform research on Mexican Gray Wolves. These wolves are very rare, only 400 are left according to Braido. The students immobilized, collected physical data, performed physical exams, and administered vaccines to the wolves. The data collected, such as blood, fecal specimens, and hair follicles, were brought back to ARCC to research by students currently taking Genetics taught by ARCC Professor Paula Croonquist and Microbiology taught by ARCC Professor Scott Danneman.
On November 6, ARCC students were brought back again, by invitation, to the Wildlife Science Center.
“They [Wildlife Science Center] were very impressed with our students,” said Braido, “the students are an amazing group.”
“Students got even more then we planned on,” stated Danneman.
On the second trip to the Wildlife Science Center, students worked with wolf/coyote hybrids: what biology faculty are calling “wyotes”. This hybrid species mates male western gray wolves and female western coyotes. The data collected during this second visit will be used to determine if a true hybridization between a wolf and a coyote was successful and how this new species is classified said Croonquist. This research, completed by the Genetics class at ARCC, will be sent to the Wildlife Science Center. Croonquist believes that this research, whether published or not by the Wildlife Science Center, was still a good and novel experience for the students.
“It is an absolute wonderful teaching tool,” said Croonquist about the hands-on research with students are experiencing, “it engages students.”
The Genetics class is studying the genetic analysis and antibiotics in the wolf data, while the Microbiology class, a third class researching the wolf data, focuses more on the bacterial species.
Braido says that she’s heard students comment that this was the best experience in their college career. She wants to imbed research in students and use it as a teaching tool. It makes learning and teaching more exciting and hands-on.
Croonquist notes that undergraduate research, such as the current wolf project, introduces students to real-life applications and can help prepare them for multiple career avenues.
Currently, Field Biology is offered in Spring 2014, but the focus on wolves won’t happen again until Fall 2014. The Genetics and Microbiology classes will use data from this semester in their Spring 2014 curriculum.