research team mentors

Research focus for summer 2026

Our team seeks to investigate the evolution of animal behavior, with a focus on behaviors affected by smell. We are using deer mice because they are very diverse and abundant.

A primary question our group is working on is how do deer mice respond to various odors? To answer this, we are focusing on three main questions over the summer:

How do deer mice respond to predator and novel odors? Research in lab mice and rats has shown that small rodents are born with characteristic fear responses to predator smells. Whether these patterns hold in wild mice found at Tyson Research Center remains to be seen. To do so we will set live traps to catch deer mice overnight before running behavioral experiments in the field the next morning. The behavioral experiments will consist of filming the mice's response to various odors.

Do deer mice change their behaviors in different habitats? Though deer mice are found almost everywhere in the U.S., including both rural and urban settings, not much work has been done to understand exactly how they are living in and using drastically different habitats. To do so we plan to repeat the behavioral and camera trap experiments done in rural environments, namely Tyson and Shaw Nature Preserve, in urban settings, using local parks and neighborhoods around St. Louis. This will help us identify if there are behavioral differences between urban and rural mice.

What factors cause deer mice to overcome their fear behavior? Toxoplasmosis has been shown to cause mice to be less fearful of predator smells. To investigate the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in the deer mouse population and compare behavior recordings of non-infected with toxo-infected mice we will take non-invasive blood samples. In addition, we will look at what could induce a mouse to be bolder. To do this we will use camera traps baited with different combinations of odors and food with varying nutritional content. The camera traps will capture the visitation rates of mice and will help us better understand the risk/reward tradeoff.

Skills
techniques
methods

Students will gain experience working in a team and will receive training in the following areas:

Project design
You will work collaboratively to design an experiment involving camera trapping. You will develop skills in thinking critically about a question and how to answer it. You may also assist in building the traps.

Field experiments
You will learn how to bait and set both live animal traps and camera traps, collect/check traps, set up behavioral experiments, and identify common animals seen in the traps. You may also assist in collecting demographic and biological information such as sex, weight, morphometrics, and blood and tissue samples. You will learn best practices when working with small mammals and collecting field tissue samples.

Lab experiments
You will have the opportunity to assist with basic lab techniques such as DNA extraction, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and ELISAs. You will learn proper techniques for working in a molecular wet lab.

Data collection, management, and analysis
You will gain experience keeping detailed field and lab notebooks, entering data, and analyzing behavior videos. You will also gain experience in basic small mammal identification analyzing camera trap footage.