Rebecca S. Burton
I developed two different research projects and began work on
them. One was a comparative study of caching and hibernating rodents
in similar environments. I set up a laboratory that would enable
me to study seasonal variation in body mass, metabolic rate, and immunocompetence
in rodents and began field work. I wished to expand this study, so
I submitted a grant to the National Science Foundation, which I prepared
in collaboration with O. J. Reichman. In cooperation with Dr. Reichman,
I developed an experiment to test my hypothesis that hibernators can manipulate
their torpor pattern to combat pathogens. I have completed this experiment
and submitted a manuscript based on this work to Functional Ecology.
I did a literature review on the evolution of adaptations to environmental
variability and presented results in a poster at the Synthesis in Ecology
Symposium hosted by NCEAS in November of 1996. I also submitted for
publication a paper based on my doctoral work and my literature review.
Additionally, I have begun a survey of the mammals of Sedgwick Reserve
and have participated in an experiment on the effectiveness of various
management strategies for returning plant species endemic to serpentine
outcrops to intervening alluvial soils. I have volunteered in NCEAS’s
“Kids do Ecology” program.