{"id":7384,"date":"2022-01-19T09:34:04","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T15:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=7384"},"modified":"2022-01-19T09:34:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T15:34:04","slug":"freshwater-science-mentorship-and-insecticide-insight","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/freshwater-science-mentorship-and-insecticide-insight\/","title":{"rendered":"Freshwater science: Mentorship and insecticide insight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Photo
Austin Draper’s love of fish led him to a career in water sciences.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Collaborative grant provided opportunity for faculty and students at two UW schools to study potential emerging water contaminants.<\/strong><\/div>\n

Austin Draper never considered a career in freshwater science. Although he was an extremely curious kid \u2014 and asked a lot of questions about nature, particularly fish \u2014 he\u00a0<\/span>struggled academically in high school<\/span>.\u00a0After graduation, he attended\u00a0community college to\u00a0explore his\u00a0interests.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When he transferred to UW-Whitewater as a junior, he chose Biology with an emphasis in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, but he still couldn\u2019t quite envision his career plan. A faculty member recognized Draper\u2019s passion for science and encouraged him to apply for a research position in Associate Professor Elisabeth Harrahy\u2019s lab.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo
Elisabeth Harrahy and Austin Draper in the field.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Draper is now earning a master\u2019s degree in\u00a0Coastal\u00a0Sciences from the University of Southern Mississippi where he is studying the highly threatened Gulf\u00a0sturgeon. His\u00a0future plans\u00a0include earning a PhD and teaching science at a university.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGetting into\u00a0the lab helped me understand how to do science\u00a0\u2014 what\u00a0the process\u00a0is for\u00a0getting funding,\u00a0preparing water samples,\u00a0doing the tests\u00a0and\u00a0analysis, getting involved in the backend of the statistics,\u201d he says. \u201cThe biggest benefit, though,\u00a0was working with someone like Dr.\u00a0Harrahy. She\u00a0was a great mentor\u00a0and she really helped me develop myself.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His position in\u00a0Harrahy\u2019s\u00a0lab was funded\u00a0by a grant from\u00a0the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin\u00a0(FCW)\u00a0to study neonicotinoid insecticides, which are commonly used in agriculture in Wisconsin.\u00a0Because these insecticides\u00a0are\u00a0often\u00a0applied to seeds\u00a0rather than\u00a0sprayed broadly on\u00a0crops,\u00a0they initially weren\u2019t\u00a0considered a potential water contaminant. However,\u00a0recent studies by the\u00a0<\/span>Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection\u00a0(DATCP)\u00a0have detected neonicotinoids\u00a0<\/span>in groundwater and stream water,\u00a0particularly in\u00a0the Central Sands region of Wisconsin.\u00a0These\u00a0insecticides\u00a0have also been shown to kill\u00a0honeybees and other pollinators.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Harrahy\u00a0and collaborator\u00a0Tisha\u00a0<\/span>King-Heiden, a biology professor at UW-La Crosse, had received a grant from the DATCP to study\u00a0<\/span>neonicotinoid insecticides. Harrahy was studying the effects of thiamethoxam and imidacloprid (two of the neonicotinoids) on aquatic invertebrates, while King-Heiden was\u00a0<\/span>evaluating\u202ftheir\u00a0toxicity\u00a0in fish.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is responsible for registering pesticide use in the state and they are really concerned about these insecticides,\u201d Harrahy says.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She adds that both projects address two of Wisconsin\u2019s Grand Water Challenges: agricultural water management, and water quality safety and emerging contaminants. The grants from the Freshwater Collaborative allowed the two researchers to each hire an undergraduate to work in their labs during the summer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUndergraduates\u00a0want to do\u00a0research and\u00a0get\u00a0experience,\u00a0but they\u00a0also\u00a0need to\u00a0make money\u00a0during the summer,\u201d\u00a0Harrahy\u00a0says.\u00a0\u201cThe beauty\u00a0of these grants geared toward\u00a0undergrads\u00a0is they can work full-time in the lab. They don\u2019t have\u00a0to\u00a0work a non-science\u00a0job. And it gives\u00a0them\u00a0experience to know\u00a0what\u00a0they want to do early on.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Draper, who graduated in\u00a0December\u00a02020,\u00a0worked in the lab for\u00a0two summers\u00a0and volunteered during the school year. He\u00a0worked\u00a0closely\u00a0with another student who was supported by a UW-Whitewater Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship grant.\u00a0They met\u00a0<\/span>virtually\u00a0<\/span>with students in King-Heiden\u2019s\u202flab so they could share their work.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition,\u00a0students\u00a0in both labs\u00a0participated in a virtual meeting with\u00a0Mike Miller, a\u00a0fisheries biologist with the Wisconsin\u00a0Department of Natural Resources (DNR), who\u00a0talked\u00a0about\u202fcurrent concerns\u202frelated to neonicotinoids in streams\u00a0and challenges in\u00a0assessing their\u00a0effects in the field.\u00a0Miller\u00a0also talked to the students about\u00a0his career\u00a0path and what it is like to work for the\u00a0Wisconsin\u00a0DNR.\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Draper graduated,\u00a0Harrahy\u00a0hired\u00a0Faune\u00a0Fisher, an\u00a0Environmental\u00a0Science major\u00a0who\u00a0will present her\u00a0piece of\u00a0the\u00a0research\u00a0at Research in the Rotunda\u00a0next spring.\u00a0Although\u00a0COVID hampered sample collection and testing, the students\u00a0gained\u00a0skills that will translate to working in any lab, learned how to present their\u00a0research\u00a0and\u00a0explored\u00a0career paths.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo
Faune Fisher at Bluff Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0project showed that both thiamethoxam and imidacloprid can be acutely toxic to amphipods and water fleas\u00a0<\/span>at high concentrations (higher than currently being detected in Wisconsin waters)<\/span>,\u00a0and that chronic exposure can lead to reductions in growth of amphipods and\u202freductions in\u202freproduction of water fleas.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Results o<\/span>f\u00a0the\u00a0study\u00a0were\u00a0shared\u00a0at\u00a0the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Water Resources Association\u00a0annual meeting\u00a0and will be summarized in a final report to DATCP.\u00a0The data will help\u00a0governmental agencies and industries better\u00a0understand the risks of neonicotinoid pesticides and inform the development of surface water quality criteria.\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving these kinds of grants is really valuable for everyone involved,\u201d\u00a0Harrahy\u00a0says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

See more Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin research stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Collaborative grant provided opportunity for faculty and students at two UW schools to study potential emerging water contaminants. Austin Draper never considered a career in freshwater science. Although he was an extremely curious kid \u2014 and asked a lot of questions about nature, particularly fish \u2014 he\u00a0struggled academically in high school.\u00a0After graduation, he attended\u00a0community college […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":7389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104,84],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-7384","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse","institution-uw-whitewater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/7384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=7384"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=7384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}