CONWAY, Ark. (September
4, 2020) — Hendrix College Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Maureen
McClung ’01 has been working with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC)
researchers and the Urban Wildlife
Information Network (UWIN) to launch a wildlife research project
in the cities of Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Maumelle. After planning
and laying groundwork since the fall of 2019, the collaboration has yielded photos from
its first field season, some of which were released when the project was announced
in late August.
The Central Arkansas Urban Wildlife Project
involved placing a series of 30 cameras in public parks (a mix of city and
state, urban and rural locations) to observe the variety of wildlife in the
area. The cameras are active for four seasons each year during the months of
January, April, July, and October. The goal of the research is to learn more
about how wildlife —
particularly mammals like raccoons, foxes, and deer —
use urban green spaces. The group is already seeing evidence of animals like
foxes and hawks managing rodent populations. Select images of the study’s first
season were released near the end of August and can be viewed at the project’s website, which will be
updated with each season.
Hendrix students
Lauren Berry ’22 and Jaclyn Reifeiss ’23 received Hendrix
Odyssey Program funding for the summer research project, and Tristan
Hoerschelmann ’22 joined them when his Scott Henderson Fellowship through the
AGFC was postponed due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
“It wasn’t what I
had originally planned, but it was an incredible opportunity to gain valuable
research experience and explore a potential career path,” said Hoerschelmann.
Together, the
three biology majors worked with McClung and AGFC researchers on camera site
selection, setup and maintenance —
“which involved plenty of hiking around parks in June, from urban playgrounds
to Pinnacle Mountain State Park,” McClung said — maintaining and retrieving the gear, downloading the images, and tagging
the photos with species identification and notes about any interesting
behaviors.
For Reifeiss, all the hot-weather hiking became worth it when the team
began sorting through the first round of camera photos. “We captured images of
bobcats, foxes, and deer, all in some of the most frequented parks of Little
Rock,” she said. “Some of these animals I have never had the privilege of
seeing in person, so finding out that these creatures are right in the
backyards of some of our most populated cities is incredible.”
All three Hendrix students
participating in the study are biology majors, and this project gives them real-world
experience studying wildlife populations using remote data collection. In
addition to developing scientific skills, the students also benefit from
interacting with the various AGFC personnel who make up the team, including a
field biologist, social scientist, geographic information systems (GIS)
specialists, watchable wildlife coordinator, and administrative analyst.
“This was my first time working on a research
project that will contribute data to the scientific community,”
Reifeiss said. “I was excited to have Odyssey
funding this summer to support me while doing research — I feel like I was able
to get a head start on my career in science.”
“It’s a great opportunity to conduct field research, but
students also get to see different places their biology degrees could take them
in a state agency like AGFC,” McClung said.
During this semester and the next, these students will help
recruit more of their peers to join the project, giving it longevity.
“The goal is to keep the project running for the foreseeable
future,” McClung added, “so this project represents a research opportunity for
generations to come.”
About Hendrix College
A private liberal
arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns
recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal arts institutions, and is
featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change
the Way You Think About Colleges.
Its academic quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix
as a fixture in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876,
Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To
learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.