Small Critters Bring Huge Opportunity

Last spring, zoology major Chyanne Smith BS ’20 received a big honor to research a small animal (less than a foot in size).

The honor, acceptance to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), will allow her to study the degu (Octodon degus), a rodent that lives in large groups, as part of her master’s program in environmental science at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. While she initially planned to conduct her research in Santiago, Chile, this fall, her trip has been delayed until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Specifically, we will investigate maternal effects on the water-balance physiology of degu pups,” she said. “In other words, we are looking at the conditions a mother degu faces and how the conditions may be internally communicated to her young to better prepare the pups for survival.”

Her research goes beyond one species though.

“Central Chile is currently in the throes of a megadrought that has been linked to climate change, and degu colonies are declining during the drought,” said John Mull, Weber State zoology professor and mentor. “Chyanne’s research will have implications for understanding how social animals respond to severe climate change.”

The GRFP is the NSF’s oldest graduate fellowship program that provides direct support to graduate students in various fields. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners. 

Previously, Smith gained research experience in Mull’s animal behavior course, and a summer in Mongolia studying small mammals in the Darhad Valley. She presented her findings from Mongolia at the 2020 Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. At the 2019 conference, Smith presented her findings on the caching behavior of woodrats through maturity with zoology professor Michele Skopec.

“My core goal has always been to obtain a position that helps animals in some way,” Smith said. “The Weber State University College of Science and the Department of Zoology have provided me all the opportunities I needed to be successful.”