Request: Solar Eclipse Effects of Wildlife

[Melanie Colón]

Dear Researcher,


My name is Dustin Ranglack and my collaborator, Dr. Nate Bickford, and I
recently received a small grant from NASA to try and find behavioral
differences of animals during the August 21, 2017 North American solar
eclipse from telemetry data. Given the rarity of eclipse events, this is an
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Past research on this topic is extremely
limited, but suggests animals do change their behaviors in response to
eclipse events.


We are writing to you to inquire about any animals that you may have tagged
with telemetry (GPS or VHF) along the eclipse path (see here:
https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-who-what-where-when-and-how ), as we
would be very interested in using and analyzing data from as many different
species along as much of the eclipse path as possible.


In regards to our research, we are hoping to get GPS data from the tagged
animals from a week before the eclipse to a week after the eclipse. We will
analyze the data and if we find a response we will then write a manuscript
for publication in an appropriate peer-reviewed journal. In exchange for
sharing your data, we will happily include one member of your research team
as a co-author on the manuscript.


Please let us know if you have any questions and whether you would be
interested in collaborating with us here at UNK-Biology. We look forward to
hearing from you soon. Additionally, please forward this letter along to
any other researchers you know who are working along the eclipse path.
Thank you for your help in this effort.



Sincerely,



Dr. Dustin Ranglack Dr. Nate
Bickford

Assistant Professor Associate
Professor
Phone: 308.865.8545 Phone: 308.865.8410
Email: ranglackdh@unk.edu Email: bickfordns@unk.edu

--
Dustin Ranglack, Ph.D.
Dept. of Biology
University of Nebraska - Kearney
Kearney, NE 68849
Office: (308) 865-8545