Vaughan Recognized for Bear Research
Fisheries and wildlife sciences professor Mike Vaughan has received much recognition for his research on black bears at the Virginia Tech Center for Bear Research. The center recently received a top rating from the university’s Office of Research Compliance and was the first center to be featured on its web site. “I was very pleased with the news. We were actually one of the first centers they rated,” Vaughan said.
The Center for Bear Research is one of only two places in North America that does significant captive bear research. The center uses bears captured by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries as “problem bears” (e.g., those captured in corn fields or near bee hives) for its research. Vaughan and his students hold bears overwinter, usually August to May, and collect data prior to, during, and following hibernation.
Vaughan is currently conducting research for a bone metabolism study, examining bone growth of hibernating bears in the hopes of finding a human application for the results. Bears do not develop osteoporosis during the inactivity of hibernation, while humans on bed rest for the same amount of time often do. Comparing the differences between the two species may lead to medical breakthroughs in human health.
In another center effort, Vaughan submitted a proposal to study the effects on black bears and red wolves of the proposed widening of Highway 64 through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. Vaughan’s research will aid in preparing a compatibility determination for the project, which refuge personnel must complete before they will issue the state Department of Transportation a permit for road construction.
Vaughan’s first task will be to determine where highway wildlife underpasses should be placed. He plans to gather data by stringing barbed wire along the potential widening site; the wire will catch some of the bears’ fur, marking sites where they cross the road. In turn, bridges would be built at these bear crossings, allowing the bears to cross under the road without interfering with traffic and putting themselves or humans at risk. “However, along with the widening of the highway comes the possibility of the long-term reduced population and habitat of black bears and red wolves, which are both top predators in the area’s food chain,” Vaughan observed.
Looking ahead, Vaughan is about a year from retirement and still not sure what the future of the center holds. “After I retire I plan to still stay active with the bone metabolism work. Professor Marcella Kelly is interested in our bear work and perhaps she will continue the work of the center,” Vaughan said.
With a new semester on the horizon, Vaughan’s last year at the university will surely go by in a blink and, of course, not without recognition.
2/19/09