By Gina Magro, Nicole Lueck, and Sarah Orlofske

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s January, 2022 Newsletter edition.

Congratulations to hunters this fall who had a successful season! Several successful waterfowl hunters donated their carcasses for use by our research team at UWSP (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point) as well as our introductory biology classes. We have been building upon our data from previous years, concentrating on the parasite diversity and abundance in Greater and Lesser Scaup from the Green Bay area. This past semester, over 140 students in the Introduction to Animal Biology (BIOL 160) class had the opportunity to join the research team in dissecting the birds and identifying the parasites.

This combined effort gave the BIOL 160 students the opportunity to see the process of dissecting ducks and to look for parasites within the organs. It also allowed members of our research team to serve as peer-mentors and gain valuable teaching experience. Students in the class watched as we went through the measurement process and the procedure of taking out individual organs of the birds. The BIOL 160 students learned how to determine waterfowl species, sex and age based on feathers, as well as internal anatomy. This was far more exciting than learning anatomy from a preserved rat or even a pigeon! After the individual organs were taken out, the students were able to help look for parasites within them. The students got to see a wide diversity of parasites from lice to tapeworms, showing them first-hand some of the diversity of life covered in the course that few get to experience close up. One of the most exciting moments came when the students were able to find some of the non-native trematodes that are involved with previously reported Scaup die-offs along the Mississippi River. Evidence of these parasites is very beneficial to our research. Overall, the classes contributed over 20 specimens dissected, including Greater and Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Goldeneye and Bufflehead, and collected hundreds of parasites in just two weeks!

After the dissections were completed, the research team entered the data in spreadsheets by organizing the information for each bird and its associated parasites. Then in the final two weeks of the semester the BIOL 160 students worked as small groups to pose their own unique research question and answer them with the data that was provided. Many students were interested in addressing questions about how age, sex and species influenced the percent of specimens infected with parasites or the abundance and diversity of parasites. The students ran statistical analyses and created short oral presentations that they gave on the final day of class. While their results were preliminary because more ducks are frozen awaiting dissection, it was exciting to see trends and patterns emerge that the research team hopes to examine further with the complete dataset in spring. We look forward to future articles informing you of our research progress.

We believe this experience working with waterfowl and their parasites is beneficial for students because it involved an actual research project that got them thinking about how to answer scientific questions based on original data. This is much different and more realistic than pre-planned sets of data just given to students in a classroom. We hope that this experience encourages students to get involved in their own research projects early in their undergraduate careers. Perhaps we will inspire future waterfowl biologists!