The Gulf of Mexico Avian Monitoring Network (GoMAMN) Community of Practice Meeting took place this past October 5^th to October 7^th via Zoom. GoMAMN is a group of avian scientists and managers working collectively to develop a coordinated and comprehensive approach to avian monitoring that will provide solutions to conservation needs within the Gulf of Mexico.

The GoMAMN

The goal of this network is to provide a forum to facilitate integrated and complementary data collection for avian populations and their habitats, in the Gulf of Mexico. It currently includes partners from academia, state and federal agencies (USFWS, state fish and wildlife agencies), and nonprofits (see https://gomamn.org/partners for a full list of partners). They recently published the Strategic Bird Monitoring Guidelines for the Gulf of Mexico https://gomamn.org/strategic-bird-monitoring-guidelines, for which they received a USFWS Partners in Conservation award. The network is divided into multiple working groups, including groups for Marshbirds, Seabirds, Landbirds, Shorebirds, Wading birds, Waterfowl, Raptors and a group for Avian Health, as well.

Dr. Grace and the GoMAMN Avian Health Working Group

Dr. Jacquelyn Grace https://sites.google.com/site/jacquelynkayegrace/ from the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology and part of the Schubot Center faculty board, has been working with this group for the past four years and now serves as the co-chair of the Avian Health Working Group within GoMAMN.

In conjunction with Dr. Terri Maness from Louisiana Tech, Dr. Grace led the Avian Health working group in this past meeting. They shared some of the work GoMAMN has been doing and also reconnected with colleagues and practitioners doing avian health work in the Gulf. The group worked together to set goals for the next few years, including a survey of ongoing avian health research in the Gulf and strategized on ways to connect monitoring practitioners with health experts to improve conservation outcomes.

GoMAMN views everyone monitoring and researching birds in the Gulf of Mexico as its Community of Practice.  Their goal is to reach out to everyone doing that work and they invite all of us to join their efforts.

Take a look at what they do and get involved! https://gomamn.org/get-involved

The Schubot Center had a strong presence in the Research Symposium organized by the Veterinary Medical Scientist Research Training Program VMSRTP https://vetmed.tamu.edu/vmsrtp/ from the Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science college from Texas A&M University that had placed at the end of this past summer semester 2021.

The VMSRTP program

This program is committed to provide first and second-year vet students an opportunity to get exposed to veterinary research in a variety of aspects. For instance, during the summer, each student fellow conducts a full-time research project under the advice of a faculty mentor. They received orientation about how to perform research in a veterinary and biomedical framework and they also have the chance to interact with each other in lunch seminars and workshops. This experience concludes with a research conference where fellows present their summer research and results. The Research symposium represents a celebration of the accomplishments of both, fellow students and their faculty mentors. This past summer, we had three Schubot members participating in the VMSRTP. All of them, successful learning experiences.

Schubot Center vet student fellows and their summer research projects

Digital enrichment to promote bird movements research

Vet student fellow Dillin Parson presented his research using digital enrichment to enhance parrot wellness done in Hill Country aviaries under the mentorship of Dr. Don Brightsmith and Dr. Connie Woodman.  Dallin used a system that used an application specially designed for tablets that gave food rewards every time the subject, in this case, parrots, did any type of movement in the area requested in their enclosures. In his talk, he explained to us how this system increased daily movements levels in the parrots under study.

Optimization of diagnostic methods for Avian Bornavirus ABV research

Vet student fellow Tyler Torella who worked under the mentorship of Dr. Sarah Hammer and Dr. Caitlin Mencio talked about the optimization of diagnostic testing methods for Avian Bornavirus (ABV). He worked comparing PCR-based and serological approaches for diagnosing AVB and also performing sensitivity comparisons using different swab sites on the birds. In his talk, he showed us some important results on maternal antibody transmission by testing eggs of cockatiels in the aviary.

Ophthalmic parameters in Quaker parrots research

Vet student fellow Emily Halsmer is a veterinary student at Lincoln Memorial University that came to spend the summer working in the Schubot Aviary as part of the VMSRTP program. She worked with the large colony of Quaker parrot (Myopsiitta monachus) we have in the aviary. Her research, under the mentorship of Dr. Erin Scott, was focus on ophthalmic parameters and represent the first ophthalmic normals published for that species of parrot. 

Congratulations vet student fellows Dellin, Emily, and Tyler and faculty mentors Dr. Brightsmith, Dr.Hamer, Dr. Mencio, Dr. Scott, and Dr. Woodman, and. It was indeed a very successful summer!

Way to go Schubot Center team!!!

The Schubot Center is glad to introduce Dr. Caitlin Mencio who has joined our research team as an Assistant Research Scientist thanks to the generosity of the Pat Palmer Foundation and the support of the Schubot Endowment.

Dr. Mencio has vast experience in neurological research, joining us from the National Institutes of Health. She holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Texas Christian University and a Ph.D. degree also in neuroscience from the University of Utah. Her previous research includes understanding the role of proteoglycans in Zebra Finch song, the impacts of proteoglycans in neural repair, and their importance to cellular cytoskeleton organization.

As part of the Schubot Avian Borna Virus (ABV) research team, her research will be focused on virus transmission, disease diagnosis, and vaccine development.  She is particularly interested in the molecular basis for ABV infection and the progression from infection to clinical symptoms of PDD.

Since her arrival in January, Dr. Mencio has already done a great job revitalizing the ABV program and is making headway on a broad array of ABV-related topics. Over the coming years, we are sure that with Dr. Mencio’s help, we will greatly increase our knowledge of ABV and hopefully lead to new ways to diagnose, treat and defeat this terrible disease.

Welcome, Dr. Mencio to the Schubot team!

Congrats to Meredith for receiving research support from both the AAZV- Wild Animal Health Fund and from the American Ornithological Society in support of different aspects of her dissertation research on wild bird exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides.

Great productivity for the first year in a Ph.D. program! 

We are happy to announce that The Schubot Center for Avian Health has received a grant from the Pat Palmer Foundation to continue their work on Avian Bornavirus, the virus that causes Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD) in psittacines. The Pat Palmer Foundation, founded in 2007, is committed to improving the health and welfare of captive psittacines.  Since 2016, they have supported the Schubot Center’s efforts find solutions to the major health and welfare problems facing captive parrot populations.

PDD was first described in the late 1970s in young macaws imported from the Santa Cruz area of Bolivia and that is why was originally called “Macaw Wasting Disease”. It is suggested that it was a new disease in macaws and other large psittacines species because of its high lethality.  Today, it has been found in over 50 different species of psittacines and a number of other birds from canaries to waterfowl. Unfortunately, there is no effective cure for PDD research continues to look for more effective ways to mitigate, slow, or prevent the development of GI or neurological symptoms of PDD/AGN. 

The name PDD comes from a common clinical outcome: dilation of the proventriculus (widening of the region of the stomach between the crop and the gizzard). This dilation is caused by accumulated food due to partial paralysis of the digestive system. ABV infections can affect multiple body systems including the central nervous system and the GI tract.  Other conditions can mimic some or all of the symptoms of PDD.  While some ABV infected birds develop PDD, many birds who test positive for ABV do not develop any symptoms.  It is currently unknown what triggers disease progression after infection and continues to be an area of active research investigation. 

Thanks to the generosity of the Pat Palmer Foundation and the support of the Schubot Endowment, The Schubot Center has brought on Dr. Caitlin Mencio to lead the research on ABV. She is joined in the effort by the staff and faculty of the Schubot Center as they follow in the steps of Dr. Ian Tizard, former center director, in the search for ways to reduce ABV transmission, improve diagnostic testing, and reduce the impacts of this terrible disease. 

Ty’s summer project aims to identify a highly sensitive diagnostic approach for detecting bird infected with avian bornavirus. His summer funding is from the Vet Med Summer Research Training Program, and he is mentored by Drs. Caitlin Mencio and Sarah Hamer. Ty will be comparing PCR-based and serologic approaches for diagnosing ABV, and comparing assay sensitivity using different swab sites on the birds. The end goal will be an optimized, simple diagnostic approach to aid veterinarians, bird owners, and even wildlife managers in diagnosing and managing infections.

Sabryna Scott was selected as the 2021 Schubot Directors Award Recipient! Sabryna has been a long time avian caretaker, contributing to the well-being of the birds used for teaching, research, and outreach. Congrats on the award, including small cash prize!