Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

Wednesday November 7, 2007: What did we do today at Zoo InternQuest? We observed poop, or more professionally, we discovered the amazing amount of information that you can gather from analyzing animal droppings. Meeting with four reproductive physiology and endocrinology specialists, our day was anything but boring.

First with Thomas Spady, Ph.D., we were briefed on animal tracking and basic feces observations. We actually went outside and looked “in the field” for animal tracks or evidence of animals. Kind of a surprising activity for a job that sounds like it would be all lab coats and high tech machines. Dr. Spady, a graduate of the University of Nebraska and our local University of San Diego, specializes in molecular endocrinology, has a Ph.D. in biochemistry and physiology, and works with both the urine and feces of bears. How did he get to where he is now? Boy Scouts and a love for the outdoors. Because what he does involves a lot of field work, Dr. Spady is passionate about his work because of the variety in his work environment, the skills he needs, and the scientific discoveries he is a part of.

While Thomas Spady is the “bear-man,” Dr. Thomas Jensen is the “bird-man.” Working with kiwis, flightless birds native to New Zealand, part of his job is to collect fecal samples from kiwis both in the wild and in captivity. The point of all his research is to collect “fecal steroids” and other hormones and eventually find a way of getting the excreted steroids from the collected feces. Dr. Jensen’s main objective is to figure out “whose feces it is.” Projects such as the one that he is currently involved in allow him to work in the field and at a desk. “In my field of work,” Dr. Jensen said, “we get the best of both worlds.” By collecting feces and exploring different fields, specialists are able to learn new techniques and data profiles from wild animals and are then able to compare them to animals in captivity, and vice versa. A Notre Dame University graduate, Dr. Jensen has a Ph.D. and a degree on the gene expression of chicken ovaries.

Dr. Matthew Milnes, a graduate of the University of Florida and a holder of a Ph.D. in endocrinology, expanded on the process of attaining hormones from fecal samples. After straining the feces as much as possible, the small amount left over is weighed and put through a series of tests to attain a concentration of certain hormones. Hormones such as testosterone and those that have to do with the reproductive cycle, in this case, are very important.

Tammy Tucker is one of the people who really go in depth in the observation process. Searching for bacteria, fungi, or viruses are vital in determining whether or not an animal is healthy. Primers that might hint at which virus an animal might be carrying is one of the things that Ms. Tucker looks for in collected data. For her undergrad years, Ms. Tucker attended college in Durango, Colorado, and she attained her master’s degree in veterinary molecular biology at University of Montana, Bozeman. Her job is an important one in that she lets the veterinarians know what an animal might be carrying.

For all of you readers out there who love science AND love the outdoors, who knew that endocrinology was such an adventurous career? The work in this lab was nothing like I expected and I guess we all discovered that the old saying is right, “Don’t let anything go to waste.”

Tawni - Animal Careers Team

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