Wildlife Health Technician: Mariel Vandegrift
As the wildlife health technician at the CWHL, I spend most of my day in molecular labs (we have 3!) performing, analyzing, & optimizing molecular tests. Coordinating state biologists and other collaborators, lab management tasks, communication of the results from molecular tests, & some very occasional fieldwork fill up the rest of my time here.
I often work on multiple projects at a time, but they all revolve around the detection of threatened & endangered species or monitoring pathogens of concern across NY state. This morning, I’ll be working on a project designed to evaluate how sensitive our detection methods are for a species of concern in southern NY: Tiger Salamanders.
7:45- wake up, get ready, eat breakfast (always scrambled eggs and toast!), pack lunch, and head out the door
9:30- arrive at eDNA lab, our satellite molecular lab, where we handle samples with trace amounts of DNA to reduce chances of contamination from sources like animal tissues. The samples from this project were collected by filtering water in potential Tiger Salamander habitat, so we don’t expect to have high quantities of DNA!
9:45- I get started with my most important task of the day- decontamination! All equipment, touchpoints, and lab plastics must be wiped down with bleach or UV sterilized to prevent any non-target DNA from ending up in the sample!
10:00- The actual work starts! The first part of this molecular test involves extracting all of the DNA on the filters. I add a buffer and an enzyme to each sample, designed to break down the cell membrane and so that the DNA will be suspended in the solution.
12:30- All samples are prepared. I leave them to incubate overnight so that I can finish the rest of the DNA extraction protocol tomorrow!
1:30- leave our satellite eDNA lab and head over to one of our other molecular labs. This afternoon I’ll be doing some sample preparation for a long-term monitoring program for Chronic Wasting Disease in deer populations.
1:45-Arrive at molecular where we work on prion diseases. Don PPE and decontaminate surfaces, touch points, & plastics.
2:00- Weigh out tissue samples from deer. I add buffer and place in our shaker to break up the tissue and homogenize proteins throughout the sample. Only a very small volume is tested so it is important that the tissue is broken down and well mixed.
4:30- Put homogenized tissues in the freezer for storage. I’ll run the test to detect the prions another day!
5:00- Clean up and decontaminate all surfaces and equipment. I need to make sure I am not tracking any infectious material outside of the lab!
5:30- Wrap up for the day. This includes checking and responding to emails, entering data about the samples I worked on today, and filling out my lab notebook. It’s really important I keep a good record of what I’ve done every time I complete lab work; this gives me confidence in the data I am generating and will help me understand future results!
6:00- Head home for the day
7:00- Get home and start making dinner. I love to cook, so I am often trying out new recipes. Tonight was roasted chicken and lemony potatoes!
8:30- Eat dinner and clean up.
9:30- Read a little bit before I get too sleepy or maybe just watch some TV before bed. Right now, I’ve been binging The Bear!