Knowing
that lead poisoning is a problem that bald eagles face in the wild, Avery
Sampson, high school senior at Middleton High school in Middleton, Wisconsin,
proposed to develop a field test for detecting lead in bald eagle excrement for
the Badger State Science Fair competition. Avery’s rationale
was that there needed to be a way to monitor the health of a specific nest site
in the wild. If a protocol was developed, it would allow a fast,
noninvasive way of checking a bird’s lead states. She hypothesized that
one could better predict if a bald eagle will need human assistance.
Capturing and drawing blood can be a difficult and stressful activity for both
the eagles and the field personnel. While lead levels in fecal
samples can be determined in a laboratory, with this test you could more easily
identify eagles that need treatment for lead intoxication.
Avery contacted TRC Staff
veterinarian Dr. Michelle Willette for consultation on this project. Her study
involved collecting bald eagle excrement from along the Wisconsin River below
the Prairie du Sac Dam. Excrement was collected from the sand below
several trees where the bald eagles perch. While her proposed protocols were
ultimately not successful in testing the excrement, it did prove that her idea
was possible.
She received Third Place in the
Environmental Sciences category. She also won three specialty awards, one from the
American Society of Quality and one from Alpha Chi Sigma for the top award in
Chemistry. Avery also received an invitation to the Genius Olympiad in New York
this summer. There she will have the opportunity to compete in an
environmentally focused science fair.
Congratulations, Avery!
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