Author Archives: Lampornis

Powers Lab Gets Grant From NASA!

Posted on September 2, 2011 | Comments Off on Powers Lab Gets Grant From NASA!

Hummingbird Feeding in the Respiratory Mask

The Powers lab joined a team of scientists headed by Dr. Catherine Graham (SUNY Stonybrook) in submitting a grant proposal to NASA to study how hummingbird populations respond to climate change.  It was recently announced that the grant, which was for $1.4 million, was going to be funded.  The Powers lab will receive approximately $250K ($60K of which are matching equipment funds from GFU) over four years which will be used for physiological studies in North American, Mexico, and South America.  Funds from the grant will be used to purchase equipment, pay for travel, and support several students.  To read the complete press release from George Fox University click here.

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Posted in Research News

Red-Sided Garter Snakes in Manitoba

Posted on June 12, 2011 | Comments Off on Red-Sided Garter Snakes in Manitoba

Paige color marking a snake

On May 15 we returned from Manitoba completing the lab’s fourth year of work on red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis).  During out two-week stay research student Paige Copenhaver and I studied the metabolic impact of replacing copulatory plug material after they have successfully mated.  In addition we studied both large (> 35 g) and small (< 25 g) males to see if body size impacted plug material synthesis.    Thanks to a new metabolism system design that employs open-flow analysis of gases in a closed-system chamber  we were able to show that male snakes do indeed exhibit a higher resting metabolic rate for some period of time following a copulation.  However, the magnitude of this extra cost did not appear to be influenced by body size.  Now that we are back at home Paige is hard at work in the lab constructing a standard metabolic rate curve for male snakes so that we can assess the magnitude of the metabolic increase that occurs post copulation.  Paige will also attempt to determine the energy content of the plug material using dried plugs we brought back with us from Manitoba.  A few select photos are shown below in a slide show.  If you want to see the entire Flickr album click here.

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Posted in Research News