OSWEGO – Jamie Perrin, who earned her zoology degree in May from SUNY Oswego, performed research examining the local bird population through a campus Student Scholarly and Creative Activity Grant.
Perrin’s research aims to provide a better understanding of the movement, degradation rate and impact of the weather on birds, specifically the barred owl, by performing eDNA (environmental DNA) collection and research project titled “Estimating the Detection Rate of the Strix Varia Over the Course of a Spring Snowmelt Event.”
The barred owl, found throughout the eastern United States and the Pacific Northwest, generally appears in trees and near bodies of water, providing a great subject for Perrin’s study.
Perrin first created a primer for her species-specific study to allow her to focus on barred owl eDNA. Perrin then used a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to see if there is any barred owl eDNA present within the water sample.
“My goal is to see how eDNA concentration might change over the course of a melt event,” Perrin, who hails from Stanley in Ontario County, said during a spring semester interview. “This involves taking several baseline samples, as well as once it begins to warm up. I will take several more frequent samples and then analyze eDNA concentration using nanodrop as well as determine when my species of interest is detected within the samples.”
Collecting eDNA from samples throughout the melt period addressed the goal of determining at which point through the spring melt holds the greatest amount of barred owl eDNA for species detection.
“The idea here is that the amount of eDNA concentration and our ability to pick up eDNA from a species of interest may change as a result of weather conditions,” Perrin said. “My goal is to determine at which point throughout a melt event might one be most likely to pick up the greatest amount of target eDNA. A melt event will be taking snow and any eDNA it has been collecting as well as bringing dirt and other contaminants into the water system that I will be sampling from.”
Controlled lab experiments
Perrin’s research took place within a controlled environment to provide stable eDNA sampling and standardized testing, and to ensure the accuracy of her eDNA collection.
“Understanding the rate of eDNA degradation will aid in the analysis of species presence and sampling will provide invaluable information for how long eDNA might remain in the environment before breaking down and being undetectable and leading to potential false negatives within samples.” Perrin said. “If a species is present within an area, but the eDNA breaks down too much before sampling, it may appear in the samples as though the species is not in the area.”
Perrin hopes that her research will not only help future researchers but also future species monitoring and tracking. Perrin believes her research “specifically will provide insight into eDNA degradation as well as how weather patterns such as a melt event will impact the transport and presence of eDNA.”
Perrin has been mentored by assistant professor Nicholas Sard in the biological sciences department. They met weekly to review Perrin’s progress, review the week ahead, and also schedule meetings with other student researchers to discuss their projects and read papers together.
Discover more from Oswego County Today
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.