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Show FACULTY a ee Campus Zoolo Of Antelope by Joseph Bauman iwo dozen pronghorn ante- now the targets of high-tech snooping about their sex lives. The herd of 24 not only have reintroduced antelope to the island, but serve as subjects of studies by University students and faculty. The researchers hope to unlock secrets of wildlife reproductive strategy and learn about genetic diversity. Mary Tellius, spokeswoman for the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation, says that for three days after their capture, the antelope were checked for tuberculosis and the disease brucellosis. “No sign of any disease,” she says. The release went smoothly, says Antelope Island Park superintendent Mitch Larsson. “All of them seemed to be doing well.” In the mid 1840s, explorers Kit Carson and John C. Fremont noticed the island had many antelope, he says. The beasts could have walked across sandbars or got onto the island by a natural bridge that connects it with the mainland during low water. “There were quite a few there, the way it sounded,” Mr. Larsson says. But 60 years ago, they died out. The island may have been overgrazed. Overgrazing would have promoted the growth of cheatgrass, which burned fiercely when lightning started fires. “The island was used for domestic livestock grazing from the time the pioneers came into the valley,” Mr. Larsson says. 16 The Uses Campus All of the antelope released this winter carried solar-powered radio transmitters on ear tags, which will be used by faculty members and students from the University to track the animals. “Each transmitter has a different frequency, so we can track the individual animal with a radio receiver and an antenna,” says Sue Fairbanks, an assistant professor of zoology at Weber State, who heads the studies. Blood samples were taken from the animals during their three days of captivity. The samples are the basis for DNA fingerprints. “We’re looking at the genetic consequences of reintroducing small populations of large animals,” she says. Several University faculty members and student researchers are involved in these studies. In addition, some students will be carrying out independent projects. The antelope study offers “a fantastic opportunity for our students here,” she says. “The antelope are close to Ogden and, because they are cut off from contacts with the mainland, they amount to a captive population in the wild.” Each spring, the year’s fawns will be captured and checked for genetic diversity. “A few of the males will probably get to do most of the breeding and only their genes will get carried on to future populations,” Dr. Fairbanks says. Blood tests should establish paternity and allow wildlife researchers to learn more about the dynamics of antelope herds. “Genetic work has some very important management implications, because this by JaNae Francis “Wrames Gaskill grins when he recalls finding a single cat «hair that linked two rapes and led to one of the most noteworthy cases of “elementary deduction” solved by University criminal scientists. Mr. Gaskill, director and founder of the Weber State crime lab, says a hair found at the scene of a rape about five years ago was traced to the cat of another rape victim. That linked the two incidents and provided evidence needed to obtain convictions in both cases. Those cases helped to earn Mr. Gaskill a reputation as the “Sherlock Holmes of Northern Utah.” This reputation is strengthened by Mr. Gaskill’s affinity for the same type of English “deer stalker” hat made famous by the fictional Holmes. PRONGHORN CLINIC — Zoology students inoculate an antelope as part of a study of large mammal breeding patterns. Researchers hope the study will unlock the secrets of genetic diversity. method of reintroducing large numbers by transport in small numbers is a common technique,” she says. For example, researchers may be able to tell if the herd starts to become inbred through the limited genetic diversity. In addition, the zoologists will know which bucks are successful in passing along their genes. They will compare the animals’ physical characteristics and behavior and check which territories they stake out “to see which are important in determining the mating and reproductive success of the male, “ she says. Radio transmitters will let the scientists know which terri- tory each buck claims. The radios will have another use: every spring, they will inform zoologists where the does are. Then they will be able to capture fawns and take blood samples for the DNA fingerprinting. The fingerprints will show which bucks are the fathers of the fawns. “We can only catch the fawns when they’re four days or younger,” she says, “after that they’re too fast; they’ll outrun us.” # Mr. Bauman is a reporter for the Deseret News. This edited article origi- nally appeared in that newspaper Feb. 1. H olmes ‘Sherlock Crime of N Lab to Solve Local Crimes But you won’t often see Mr. Gaskill with magnifying glass in hand. With modern science at his fingertips, Mr. Gaskill uses technical X-ray devices and chemical methods more accurate than any device Holmes ever could have imagined to analyze evidence brought to him by Northern Utah police. “We were once able to narrow a blood sample down to 30 percent of the population,” Gaskill says. “Now we can often get it down to less than 1 percent.” The thrill of being on the cutting edge of technology keeps Gaskill excited about his work. “There have been an awful lot of people arrested, convicted and rehabilitated because of new methods we have been able to employ in the lab,” he says. This quest for new science helped Mr. Gaskill open the first crime lab to serve the entire state. He opened it in 1971, shortly after he began teaching at Weber State. He says the lab was a natural undertaking because many of his students were police officers who were already bringing him evidence for analysis. “Setting up the lab was not as difficult an undertaking as you might think,” Mr. Gaskill says. “If you’re careful and give police and juries the information they need, people begin to accept you.” The Weber State criminal justice program educates about 80 percent of the police serving Northern Utah. Weber State remains the only Utah school to offer a four-year criminal justice degree. Weber State also is the only university facility in the United States to promote largescale cooperation with profes- James Gaskill sional law enforcement. “People come here to study because of our excellent lab,” Mr. Gaskill says. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Mr. Gaskill’s presence makes the lab feel a bit like “Number 221B Baker Street.” Ms. Francis writes for the public communications department at the University. Busters A new technical services partnership between the University and 13 Weber County municipalities produced successful investigation of about 1,000 criminal cases since last July. Under the partnership, the University’s crime lab technicians collect evidence from all types of crimes occurring in Weber County. The agreement is the first of its kind in the United States. It is the natural extension of an existing agreement between local cities and the University where the crime lab processes evidence. The agreement has given local law enforcement significant help in solving crimes, according to Weber County Attorney Reed Richards. The crime lab played an important role in a November drug bust in Ogden that netted 740 pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $1.5 million. “Small police departments can’t afford a full-time evidence collector,” says James Gaskill, assistant professor of criminal justice. “That was hurting them when it came to large crimes. Some officers had never handled a homicide in their lives.” The partnership allows law-enforcement officers to concentrate on other aspects of their jobs. “Tf investigation work is the only thing you devote your time to, you can do a better job,” Mr. Richards says. “The partnership with Weber State has worked better than we ever thought it would.” Mr. Gaskill says the lab also is used to train students. “Students don’t handle actual evidence,” Mr. Gaskill says. “But they handle the same substances on the same equipment. And as students take classes from those who do the actual work, they learn to deal with what goes on in the real world.” The lab also gives students opportunities to use devices otherwise unavailable to them. “Some of the equipment costs $30,000. We couldn’t justify spending that much when we’d use it only 25 or 30 times a year for instruction.” Mr. Gaskill says such equipment is needed frequently in the crime lab and can be shared by students when not used for evidence handling. # |