Colby-Sawyer Students Research Avian Pathogens at New Hampshire State Lab

Earlier this month, Colby-Sawyer students Tim Schubarg ‘23 and Quinn Aldrich ’25 gained hands-on experience at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NHDHHS) laboratories while working with School of Arts & Sciences Professor Nick Baer on his ongoing project studying the presence of the dangerous pathogens West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in migrating birds of prey.

Baer’s research this year culminated in a visit to the state public health labs, where Schubarg and Aldrich evaluated samples under the guidance of NHDHHS Microbiologist Denise Bolton.

“We have some equipment here that isn’t available at Colby-Sawyer, and it has been great for us to help mentor the students and give them the opportunity to do some hands-on lab testing to round out their experience,” Bolton said. “It’s a win/win experience for us, too, since we enjoy mentoring the students and hearing about the research that they’re doing.”

For the students, this was a chance to work with the same procedures and equipment used to identify human outbreaks of West Nile and EEE. Samples of blood are collected from captured raptors by way of parasites called flat flies, which, Schubarg explained, are kind of like ticks for birds. The flies are then processed back in the lab at Colby-Sawyer in preparation for the final stage of testing, which utilizes a process called quantitative polymer chain reaction (qPCR), which must be conducted at the NHDHHS lab in Concord.

“qPCR is a type of PCR reaction that can quantify the amount of a specific gene that you're looking for,” Schubarg explained. “So, in viruses, it's able to look at the RNA and kind of give us an estimate, as we're running it through this reaction, of how much there is in that sample and whether or not that indicates the virus is actually there.”

Schubarg intends to become even more adept in a lab environment in the future, as he pursues a graduate degree in molecular and cell biology at Quinnipiac University in the fall.

Aldrich, a sophomore, is still exploring her academic interests. This was her first year collecting samples and learning how to process them in the lab, though last summer, she interned with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services doing water quality work. Aldrich said she is “putting out feelers” to find a career path, adding, “And I'm getting so many valuable lab skills and so much new lab experience along the way.”

Aldrich will take Schubarg’s place as the senior student researcher next year, and it will be her job to show a new student researcher the ropes. Baer said he’s excited to continue involving students in his research. “There is nothing better than having students apply their laboratory skills for a current research project to build confidence and add experience outside the classroom to their college education,” he said.

The Schubarg-Aldrich research team will face one last challenge before a new student replaces Schubarg, however. According to Baer, they’ll be traveling to London, Ontario, this summer to present their findings at the American Ornithological Society's national meeting.