Jacob Templin to defend biology thesis on July 1

Thursday, July 1, 10 a.m.

CPISB, Room 120

The Dept. of Biology announces that Jacob Templin will defend his thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. The title of his thesis is "Using the doubly-labeled water method to measure field metabolic rate in Northern red-backed voles, Myodes rutilus."

Abstract
The doubly-labeled water technique uses the rate at which injected stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen are lost by an animal over a set period, usually 24 hours, to estimate its Field Metabolic Rate (FMR). This technique was used to measure the way in which the FMR of a small Alaska rodent, the Northern red-backed vole, varied over a 12-month period. FMR remained constant year-round for voles kept indoors at room temperature but exposed to natural changes in day length. It was, however, significantly lower in winter than in summer for voles kept outdoors and exposed to changes in temperature and snow conditions.

This suggests that photoperiod alone is insufficient to cause seasonal change in FMR in this species. The effect of over-enrichment of the injected isotopes on the accuracy of FMR measurements was also assessed. The mean FMR of voles that were injected with over-enriched samples did not differ significantly from the mean for voles injected with conventionally-enriched samples. This suggests that this technique is robust enough to remain accurate even when theoretical enrichment limits are exceeded.

Faculty, students and the general public are invited. Templin's advisor is professor I.G. van Tets.