This past spring, several biology professors, with assistance from animal care specialist Jamie Wagner, took advantage of the pleasant weather and brought students from their classes outside for field studies.

In an introductory biology class, first-year student Ellie Goodfriend was waist-deep in Westhampton Lake, wearing waders. As she and her classmates pulled a net from the water, they were surprised to find squirming fish and a couple of reptiles.

“Is that a snapping turtle?” asked Goodfriend, as she pulled open the net with her gloved hands.

It wasn’t, but the class did find two turtles that day — a red-eared slider and a pet turtle. The pet turtles are part of an invasive species that owners have been known to release illegally into the lake. Senior teaching faculty of biology and environmental studies Emily Boone’s classes document the species of turtles in the lake and measure their populations. Each fall and spring, the nets are set out and checked daily for a week of turtle trapping. Empty, liter-sized, plastic soda bottles keep the nets partially at the surface, so the turtles can come up for air.

Using a common protocol in turtle research, the students file small notches in the shell margins with a unique code that allows individuals to be tracked year after year. 

“This spring we caught 23 turtles. Seven of those were recaptures that we caught in previous surveys,” Boone said. “Turtle week is always my favorite week of the semester. You get to see quiet and reserved students light up with excitement.”

Boone explained that field research provides students with practical, experiential learning that reinforces knowledge acquired in the classroom. It allows them to develop critical skills, such as data collection, observation, problem-solving, critical thinking, and technical skills, like using field equipment and GIS.

“It was a new experience,” Goodfriend said. “Hands-on work is better than only sitting in class.”

Looking for falcons

Biology professor Jonathan Richardson brought students from his Urban Ecology & Evolution elective course downtown to observe the foraging behaviors and mating interactions of a pair of peregrine falcons that are known to nest atop Riverfront Plaza. Using binoculars and spotting scope cameras perched on tripods, the students watched the falcons as they searched for food and prepared for their offspring. Richardson timed the visit for when falcons begin nesting and laying eggs.

“One year we saw a mid-air mating,” Richardson said.

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources monitors the birds’ breeding season with a live-streaming falcon cam that the students can watch in class.

Researching salamanders

Richardson and other Biology 202 professors took their classes to James River Park to study salamanders. Cover boards — square pieces of oak wood placed on the forest floor — provide shelter for various creatures. Students collected data on the salamanders underneath. “The students are recording body size and age information, which helps determine how much reproduction has been occurring and will likely occur in the future,” says Richardson. This allows them to project the health of that population and how things like climate will impact them.

“The students collect data related to population ecology, but they are also contributing data to long-term research studies and making meaningful impacts on broader science into the species,” Richardson said. The data collected becomes part of the Salamander Population & Adaptation Research Collaboration Network. Biology professor Kristine Grayson leads Richmond’s participation in this national consortium.

Richardson said these opportunities are rare for undergraduate students.

James River ecosystems

Biology professor Priscilla Erickson’s Biology 202 class explored rock pools on Belle Isle, a few weeks after surveying the salamanders.

Erickson noted that the James River Park System in Richmond provides excellent opportunities for students to learn about local ecosystems just minutes from campus. At the rock pools, the students learned about field sampling methods to characterize the diversity of biological communities. “Each rock pool is a mini ecosystem with a variety of aquatic life, including plants, microorganisms, and insects,” Erickson said.

Camera-trapping mammals

For the past few years, teaching faculty Jennifer Sevin’s biology classes have participated in Snapshot USA, a national camera-trapping project that tracks the distribution of wildlife species across the country. In the fall, remote cameras capture images of the animals on campus, which are then submitted to the national database.

Other studies on campus include tree research, macroinvertebrate explorations, bird documentation through visual observations and acoustic recorders, and observations of waterfowl and squirrels.

“The list goes on and on. There are too many projects by research students to mention,” Sevin said. “Classes have literally explored everything from the birds to the bees.”