Terrestrial Ecotoxicology and Disease Research Facility Core Technology Team

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The Terrestrial Ecotoxicology and Disease Research CTT has three main research mechanisms:

1. Captive bird colonies that can be used as models for various species of wild birds to address specific toxicological, disease or ecological hypotheses or questions;
2. A variety of facilities to conduct these studies; and 
3. Laboratories that support this research by providing data on various non-apical genomic-molecular and biochemical indicators.

Bird Colonies

• The CTT research colonies are available for use in various types of toxicological, ecological and disease studies, including short-term exposures, reproductive and multigenerational studies, immune-challenge and disease resistance research. 
• Current species include American Kestrel, Japanese quail (an avian model species for endocrine research) and several seaduck species. All of these species reproduce in captivity and are well-accepted research models used in wildlife toxicology.

Facilites

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• Raptor facility which maintains kestrels in a series of large flight pens that have enabled the colony to reproduce and remain self-sustaining for over 50 years
• Smaller pens used for more controlled exposure studies, such as PFAS impacts on avian reproduction and physiological responses to pesticides
• Seaduck facility which include large pens with flow through water systems that provide clean filtered water to the ducks in a covered, outdoor setting
• Indoor diving tanks that serve as experimental chambers in which the birds’ diving behavior can be studied under various environmental conditions
• Mesocosms, each with its own pump house and wetland/marsh area that provides habitat for an entire food chain from invertebrates to amphibians, to birds
• Indoor experimental animal facilities, which permit temperature-controlled studies to be conducted
• Egg incubators can be used to hatch bird eggs whether collected from our own colonies or brought in from the field
• Two environmental chambers that provide for controlled temperature and light conditions used for reptile and amphibian exposures 

Laboratories for Biomarker Analyses

• Fully equipped laboratory that provides gene expression, microbiome, antibiotic resistance and virulome analyses, along with other molecular methods
• Immune and chromogenic assays to analyze various biochemical indicators including those for oxidative stress, steroid and thyroid hormones
• Blood clotting assays and analyze for various response endpoints from both arms of the immune system.