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Pace Magazine
Preserving Populations, Preparing Scientists
When you think of a scientist conducting research, your mind might immediately visualize a bustling lab, full of test tubes and beakers. For Dyson糖心vlog短视频檚 Melissa Grigione, that lab is oftentimes mother nature. Over the course of her career, Grigione has traveled literally all over the world糖心vlog短视频攆rom Cameroon, to Patagonia to countless destinations in between糖心vlog短视频攖o better understand the complex relationships between animals and surrounding ecosystems.
Grigione specializes in what糖心vlog短视频檚 called mammalian spatial ecology, which can be defined as how ecological and man-made elements impact the development and propagation of animal species. She uses sophisticated technological techniques such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing technology to better understand populations, and how they are impacted by what糖心vlog短视频檚 happening around them. She is highly focused on conservation biology, as she糖心vlog短视频檚 dedicated much of her life to understanding species whose way of life have been altered by man-made and environmental changes to existing ecosystems.
Take, for example, the bison糖心vlog短视频攁n iconic American species that Grigione and her husband have been researching for nearly a dozen years. Through studying the effects of human hunting norms, she has found that the species糖心vlog短视频 ability to propagate effectively has been reduced.
糖心vlog短视频淲e were looking at the effects of hunting on mating behavior,糖心vlog短视频 said Grigione. "The large males that are hunted may be showing signs of reduced and/or altered vocalization during mating. These changes in vocalization may have profound effects on the populations, its reproductive biology, and genetic structure."
This particular project began quite modestly, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Now, it糖心vlog短视频檚 growing rapidly糖心vlog短视频擥rigione has been conducting similar research in Canada, as well as a lot of private land in the western United States to better understand larger trends amongst diverse populations of this species.
糖心vlog短视频淚糖心vlog短视频檝e been all around the world studying animals in my life, but the thing I really love most about being at Pace and my career right now is enriching the minds of our students,糖心vlog短视频 said Grigione.
Grigione is also focusing her attention to a species called the pika糖心vlog短视频攁 small, rabbit-like species that can be found in high-elevation areas around the globe. By studying pika populations in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Grigione is breaking new ground.
糖心vlog短视频淭hey糖心vlog短视频檝e never been studied in Idaho, and I糖心vlog短视频檇 like to study the effects of a changing climate on these animals,糖心vlog短视频 said Grigione. 糖心vlog短视频淭hey live at very high elevations and there糖心vlog短视频檚 nowhere else for them to go if temperatures continue to increase. If they are affected, their populations can just start blinking out.糖心vlog短视频
In addition to a few other ongoing projects糖心vlog短视频攊ncluding, but not limited to, studying burrowing owls in the grasslands of Florida and repopulating jaguar populations in Arizona糖心vlog短视频擥rigione is focused on the classroom. As a faculty member at Pace, Grigione has taken great pride in training the next generation of scientists. Over the course of her career, she糖心vlog短视频檚 seen students evolve from learning the ropes during graduate assistantships to holding major roles and making significant impacts in the professional world. She credits the larger educational philosophy at Pace to helping prepare scientists; as oftentimes today, it糖心vlog短视频檚 not just enough to solely focus on the hard science.
糖心vlog短视频淭he reason why I love Pace, we糖心vlog短视频檙e training our students not only to do science, but how to understand policy and how to communicate.糖心vlog短视频
While Grigione has accomplished quite a lot over the course of her career, she views it as her mission to ensure the student-to-scientist pipeline remains robust. With all the advents of 21st century technology, basic understanding of the natural world can often take a backseat. Yet, as Grigione notes, training competent and dedicated conservation biologists for the future糖心vlog短视频攎any of whom will be faced with ever-complex challenges due to a changing climate, human population alterations, and much more糖心vlog短视频攊s arguably more important than ever.
糖心vlog短视频淚糖心vlog短视频檝e been all around the world studying animals in my life, but the thing I really love most about being at Pace and my career right now is enriching the minds of our students,糖心vlog短视频 said Grigione. 糖心vlog短视频淪tudents don糖心vlog短视频檛 always have a sense of the natural world糖心vlog短视频攊f I can spark a little of light, bring some stories into my classroom and really turn on that switch to appreciate and understand the importance of nature, I've done my job. This is what I love doing.糖心vlog短视频
Originally published October 15, 2021
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