Unity College student input in the Penobscot Black Bear Study
In Spring 2018, Unity College students in Dr. Hopkins' black bear seminar initiated the Maine Cooperative Bear Study (now called the Penobscot Back Bear Study). During that semester, students in the seminar worked to create the logo (thanks Abigail Wilson!), which has been recently modified to recognize our primary partner, Penobscot Nation. Additionally, students worked to create the research priorities for the first field season, which were carried out by Emily Higgins (lead) and Ryan Rifenburg (intern). Emily also led a successful crowdfunding campaign which funded their work on the project:
https://experiment.com/projects/what-is-the-best-way-to-monitor-the-health-of-the-black-bear-population-in-maine
In Spring 2020, a new class of Unity College seminar students assisted with the study by preparing for the upcoming season and producing a website! Students worked remotely after campus closings for COVID-19 in order to ensure that this website and blog were active before summer break. Thank you so much to all of our great student-partners who have worked on the following projects:
Andrew Jolin ~ Unity College Senior
I have worked on the Black Bear Study survey, which will be out hopefully this week. The purpose is to give our group an understanding of how the Unity College community feels about their experience with research project opportunities here at Unity College, namely the old and new black bear projects. I have also worked on a hunter survey directed to the Maine bear hunter who has harvested a black bear in the recent hunting season. The information gathered through the survey will help us gain knowledge of the location and biological data pertaining to the population in Maine. The Maine bear guide survey will allow us to gather data on their preferred method of harvest and bears harvested in their respective WMU.
Brittany Farrar ~ Unity College Junior
I worked with Andrew Jolin on creating and revising the surveys to be sent out to the Unity students and community long with surveys to be sent out to bear hunters/guides. The information gathered through these surveys will help us gain better information on harvested black bears around Maine. This information can be important for many interested when looking into locations of harvest, sex, age, and harvest methods (baiting, stalking, dogs).
Matthew Hodgkins ~ Unity College Junior I worked on designing hats and some apparel for everyone to wear to get the word out about the Penobscot Black Bear Study! I hope everyone is as excited as I am.
Sara Beck ~ Unity College Senior I am grateful for the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming field season as the lead Wildlife Technician. I have worked on inventorying field equipment and VHF transmitters and have contacted telemetry agencies for quotes on satellite bear collars. Furthermore, I have been acting on the fundraising board to assist with website design and decal planning. I am excited to work on continuing the PBBS blog over the upcoming field season in order to bring new information to everyone interested in the project!
Caroline Honan ~Unity College Senior I have been working on habitat analysis of potential survey sites. Through GIS work, I have been able to compile data on land cover use and habitat type into percentages for each potential land parcel. These coverage types include forest types like deciduous or coniferous, wetlands, developed areas, and any space used for agriculture. Using this analysis, we are able to decide which areas have optimal coverage types and are more likely to have significant bear presence.
Aleesa Dietz ~ Unity College Junior
I have been creating a database of studies that report the vital rates of black bears, namely survival and reproductive rates. I have compiled these studies in an Excel spreadsheet for future reference.
Gilbert Dore
I have been creating a literature review of wildlife baiting. It covers potential impacts of bear baiting and diversionary feeding, including effects on bear home ranges. The main objective of this project was search for such studies and summarize their findings.