Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Our research programs investigate the stressors and environmental contributors that influence thermal biology, with a strong focus on birds. This research has taken us to different parts of the world to engage in discovery research on environmental and evolutionary thermal biology. Although birds may employ different thermoregulatory mechanisms, most attempt to maintain a reasonably constant body temperature, and do so by altering peripheral blood flow or exhibiting evaporative cooling. Studying the control of heat transfer from the periphery sheds light on how the brain attempts to balance heat production and heat loss, and thus allows us to examine underlying thermoregulatory control. The ultimate goal of our research programs is to understand the strategies that animals use to cope with environmental changes and to make evidence-based predictions about how species will respond to climate change based on their thermal biology. Given the comparative biological approach we take, the PI's laboratory has become a world leader in the intersection of thermal physiology, ecophysiology, and novel scientific discoveries. The team of applicants on this application have strong expertise in avian ecology and ecophysiology, with a particular focus on temperate and arctic species. This proposal is for the purchase of a Mid Wave Infrared Thermal (MWIRT) imaging camera (the current model is not fully functional, unable to meet present needs, and no longer being repaired by the company), lenses, video acquisition software, and computational components, which are urgently required to proceed with our research. Together, these instruments form an integrated Infrared Thermographic (IRT) system which will best address the overarching goals of our research program and allow student projects to be completed in a timely manner. Over the past 6 years, 178 highly qualified personnel (HQP) were trained in our laboratories and in the field, and the equipment requested is foundational to the scientific questions of current and future HQP in thermal biology. The growth in the number of HQP working in and visiting the PI's lab has placed great demands on our older IRT, to the point that it is need of repair and no longer serviceable and is not suited for field purposes. The proposed IRT system will enrich our research findings by expanding the range of research applications, allow us to capture respiratory gases optically allowing for physiological measurements with IRT, and make image acquisition and analysis more efficient, allowing for greater access to the equipment by HQP. The MWIRT system is essential for Tattersall's research program, for the field thermography applications of the team of applicants, and for the timely completion of HQP projects.