Spencer Schroeder

Spencer Schroeder

Psychology Major, Biology Minor

The aspect that intrigues me the most about one health is how connected we are with the wildlife of Nebraska. Even though it might not seem like it, all the ecosystems depend on each other. This idea is what excites me about the one health program, because I’m allowed to discover/analyze the extent of the connectivity between us and the different ecosystems found in Nebraska.

For One Health I am mainly involved with the bird and amphibian sampling under Liz VanWormer. The bird sampling involves collecting eggs from different parts of Nebraska. These eggs are then processed in lab and tested to determine the composition of pesticides found in them. This allows us to determine the contamination of the bird population throughout Nebraska. The amphibian sampling is quite similar to the bird sampling, where we collect tadpoles to run contamination tests on. This allows for us to determine contamination on different ecosystem levels.

Throughout this experience I’ve been allowed to explore and lead different research procedures in One Health. Images: Spencer looking for Red-winged blackbirds