Team led by Teresa Bryan (M.S. candidate)
Do alligators exposed to high concentrations of metabolites of organochlorine pesticides exhibit egg shelling problems like those described decades ago in birds? Embryologically, what is the 'normal' phallic growth pattern in alligators? How do environmental estrogens/androgens influence phallic growth in alligators? Studies involve egg collection at alligator nests each summer, egg treatment studies, phallic dissections, and histology from juvenile and adult alligators. Shell thickness measurements are taken and new techniques such as atomic force microscopy are being employed to study shell fragments.

ZOO 4905 Independent Research Students
Adrienne Buckman
Doug Barker