Sarah Lord
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Research Interests:
I have a broad background in ecology, and I enjoy investigating ecological concepts over large temporal and geographic scales. My undergraduate degree at UBC was in Ecology, and I had a particular interest in evolutionary ecology, population dynamics, and population genetics. This coalesced into an Honour’s thesis in my final year with Dr. Jeff Richards (UBC Zoology) and Dr. Kathy Martin (UBC Forest Sciences), where I analyzed variation in the mitochondrial control region to look for genetic differences in two ecologically distinct populations of Dark-eyed Juncos, a common songbird.
Although I primarily work with birds, much of my undergraduate background was actually in botany. I worked with Dr. Roy Turkington (UBC Botany) on the population dynamics of vascular plants at Kluane Lake (YK), and growing teaching materials with Shona Ellis (UBC Botany) at the UBC Farm. In addition to my doctoral thesis, I am currently analyzing the relationship between species diversity and bioenergetics of ungulates at Mpala Research Station, Kenya, with Dr. Jacob Goheen (UBC Zoology).
Current Projects:
For my doctoral project I am studying the geographical patterns of contaminant accumulation in the Common Loon (Gavia immer). Loons are fish-eating birds that breed over an elevation gradient from 600 – 1600m in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Because loons are a top predator of the aquatic food chain – like eagles, ospreys, and other avian predators – they are at risk for negative effects from anthropogenic contaminants.
Common loons have been used extensively as a “bio-monitor” species for environmental contaminants in northeastern North America. I capture loons on their breeding lakes during the summer using the night-lighting method developed by Dr. David Evers (Biodiversity Research Inc). I collect a blood sample and a feather sample, take morphometric measurements, and place a unique combination of three coloured plastic bands and one CWS-issued metal band on the loon’s legs. This allows us to identify individual loons from a distance using binoculars, without having to recapture the bird. Over 3000 loons have been banded this way in North America in the past 18 years, and extensive monitoring has shown that capturing and banding loons has no impact on their behavior and survival, and no impact on the behavior and survival of their chicks.
Previous studies in the Rockies have shown that organochlorine contaminants in air, snow, glacial ice, vegetation, invertebrates, and fishes increase with elevation, so that higher-elevation populations may be at particular risk for contaminant bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Concentrations of mercury, trace metals such as lead and selenium, and other chemicals are dependent on other geographic variables such as watershed size, glacial input, and geology. The goal of my project is to measure the concentrations of these contaminants in loons, and use this data to build a predictive GIS model. This will allow us to identify areas where loons are at high and low risk of various contaminant-related effects.
Education:
2000 – 2005: Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology (Ecology Specialization), University of British Columbia
Publications:
Lord, Sarah I. S. and David W. Schindler. 2007. Persistent organic pollutants in fish-eating birds of the Rocky Mountains. The 2007 Wildlife Society (Alberta Chapter) Conference; Canmore, Alberta, February 18 – 20 2007. Poster Presentation.
Lord, Sarah I. S. 2006. Ospreys as the “Canary in the Mine”: Persistent organic pollutants in mountain ecosystems. Nature Alberta 35(4): 9.
Lord, Sarah I. S. 2005. Genetic diversity in Dark-eyed Juncos across an elevation gradient in the Rocky Mountains. Undergraduate Honour’s Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. (37 pages)
Contact information:
Office: Z-813C Biological Sciences Building
Email:silord@ualberta.ca
Phone: (780) 492 - 1292
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Last Modified:2008-03-17 |