Neonicotinoid exposure in wild bird research funded by Los Alamos National Labs Collaborative Research Program
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Meredith Anderson DVM (PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program) and Dr. Sarah Hamer, Schubot Center director, have been awarded funding from the Los Alamos National Labs (LANL) Collaborative Research Program.
The LANL Research Program is a multi-element program designed to help Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) researchers develop collaborative research projects at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), obtain funding, and formalize long-term relationships with LANL researchers. The goal of the program is to strengthen collaborations between TAMUS and LANL researchers working on projects that are beneficial for both institutions and the individuals involved. TAMUS-LANL research projects are generally doctoral research projects awarded four years of funding that allow LANL collaborators to serve as committee members for the graduate students.
Dr. Hamer and Ms. Anderson will work in conjunction with Dr. Jeanne-Fair, an avian ecologist and immunologist from LANL, on a project named “Neonicotinoid Exposure in Wild Bird Communities”. This partnership will build on Dr. Anderson’s dissertation work on examining wild bird exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides to assess impacts on avian health.
The research will involve continued field studies in different regions of the US to characterize natural levels of exposure in wild bird communities, plus some controlled exposure trials in the aviary on campus, to determine how sublethal exposures to neonicotinoids might impact a bird’s ability to resist, tolerate, and transmit infectious pathogens.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Anderson and Dr. Hamer. The Schubot Center is thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with Los Alamos National Labs.
To learn about Neonicotinoid and birds please click HERE