By Bruce Urben, President

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s November, 2020 Newsletter edition.

WWA plays an active role in youth education. Particularly through Learn to Hunt, conservation and hunter education programs. Unfortunately, in 2020 COVID-19 has certainly had an impact on our ability to hold in-person events for those programs. Something you may not know, however, is the role WWA plays in assisting a local university in their waterfowl research.

Dr. Sarah Orlofske, Assistant Professor and Curator of Animal Parasites at UW-Stevens Point has been doing research on waterfowl parasites (primarily scaup) since 2018. Several members of WWA’s Green Bay Chapter have been routinely supplying Dr. Orlofske and her students with fresh duck carcasses during the Wisconsin waterfowl seasons. Dr. Orlofske and her team dissects and examines each bird to identify the parasites present (internally and externally), their abundance and their diversity (number of different species). The information gathered helps to better understand the parasite-host interactions, but can also help make population management decisions and identify potential diseases. Dr. Orlofske, her UW team and their peers at Northeastern Illinois University are cooperating in research describing the biodiversity of parasites infecting Wisconsin’s waterfowl.

This research is cutting edge and will help our Wisconsin waterfowl biologists manage a healthy and robust population in the future. To date, over 100 duck carcasses have been transferred to Dr. Orlofske, and there is still a month of season left to continue.

Wisconsin waterfowlers are not only conservationists but citizen scientists assisting with important research education projects in Wisconsin.

Stay tuned for more updates on Dr. Orlofske’s research in 2020!