My Undergraduate Research Experience at Weber State

OGDEN, Utah— My name is Kate Thompson. I'm a zoology major with a minor in psychology at Weber State.  My pursuit of avian research started two years ago when I arrived on the first day of my undergraduate-level Zoology M1110 class and was informed by the professor that there was a field experience available to students called bird banding. I had never heard of bird banding before and had no idea at the time where it would take me.

I sent several emails to apply for the team and was put on the roster to band with a small crew on a weekday. Initially, I was excited to begin fieldwork. As a first-generation college student in my freshman year, I felt like I was exploring entirely new worlds. I was nervous on my first day of banding and showed up fifteen minutes early to the bird banding site in anticipation.

Once banding was underway on my first day, I was thrust into a world of unknowns, with a lot of things happening of which I had no idea what any of it meant. I’m extremely grateful for my supervisors who were patient with me as I learned the ropes of bird banding and slowly grew in my confidence as an ornithologist. Now, as an ornithology peer mentor, I strive to exercise the same patience and kindness that was given to me as I was learning about bird banding. 

Bird Banding is a data-based project that consists of putting small identification bands on local passerines, taking measurements, and releasing the bird back into the wild. These data points allow us to track the breeding and migration ecology of many passerine species around the Wasatch Front and also encourage further research to be done on less-studied species that migrate through Ogden. After two years of learning and banding, it was my turn to take up ornithology research. This summer I had the opportunity to travel to Peoria Illinois with the Weber State avian ecology laboratory team to present a research project at the AFO/SCO-SOC/WOS joint ornithology conference.

Before that was even possible, I worked in conjunction with John Cavitt, zoology professor, to come up with a project idea at the start of the summer. Fellow bird banding researcher, Niku Mojabi, and I studied the regression of muscle mass in migrating Lazuli buntings (Passerina amoena). We implemented the use of a 3D printed muscle mass meter from another study done on passerines into the WSU banding station and developed a regression model to accurately predict the retention of muscle mass in Lazuli buntings that were caught at our banding site. After three months of research, we had enough data for our presentation.

The five-day drive across the United States to Illinois gave us time to learn about the ecology of North American grasslands. We were able to observe the short grass prairies of the Pawnee national grasslands in Colorado, the mixed grass prairie in Manhattan Kansas (almost as cool as Manhattan NY), and the tall grass prairie throughout Illinois. Most of the days on the trip out to Illinois started with a birding excursion into one of the grasslands of the Midwest, followed by a drive to the next state, and a lesson on grassland ecology that night after camp was set up in our next site. During one of our nightly ecology lessons, we learned that the three things that maintain grassland ecosystems are fire, grazing, and climate. 

It was an amazing thing to learn, but it was even more amazing to see it in real life on the Konza prairie in Kansas. The Konza prairie is an expansive nature reserve, dedicated to the study of the effects of grazing, fire, and climate on prairie ecosystems. We drove by large fields of prairie that were burned at different intervals and observed the differences in plant heterogeneity. One of the most shocking differences to me was observing prairie fields that were grazed by bison compared to others that were ungrazed. By far one of the most memorable experiences for me on our trip out to Illinois was watching a large herd of bison cross the Konza prairie at sunset with the ornithology crew. The drive out to Illinois truly gave me a deep respect for the grasslands of the Midwest and for the factors that go into maintaining them. 

Overall, traveling to Illinois for the ornithology conference and presenting was an incredible experience. I would encourage any undergraduate students to take up research during their time in college, it encourages connections within your field and gives vital communication and fieldwork skills. I met so many amazing people in Illinois and made some really great connections, and I hope that other undergraduate students will also take advantage of these kinds of opportunities.