Author: Hunter Griffey | Major: Environmental, Soil, and Water Science | Semester: Fall 2024
Hunter Griffey documenting a prairie kingsnake (L. calligaster) mortality at Chesney Prairie
Fire is mysterious, creating diversity by causing disturbance and destruction. This mysteriousness is part of what inspired me, Hunter Griffey, to research it. I’m an undergraduate majoring in Environmental, Soil, and Water Science, and I have been working with Dr. Willson from the Biological Sciences department for almost two years. The Willson lab is primarily focused on understanding population and community dynamics in reptiles and amphibians, and how those dynamics are influenced by anthropogenic factors, such as land-use change, land management, and invasive species.
Our research is centered around prescribed fire. At its simplest, prescribed fire is the practice of lighting planned, controlled fires in order to achieve some land management goal. The most prevalent management goal in Arkansas is ecological restoration. Before European settlement, wildfires were fairly frequent and spread freely. The free spread of fire meant that ecosystems were regularly disturbed, which held back woody plants from taking over prairies. Due to the need for fire suppression and safety, prescribed fire has become an incredibly important tool in any land managers toolbox. However, our implementation of fire is likely not a perfect imitation of wildfire, due to season, weather, and safety concerns. Wildlife may not be perfectly adapted to
surviving our prescribed fires, which raises some concerns. For almost ten years, the Willson lab has been monitoring reptile mortality after prescribed fires at multiple local prairies. Our goal is to understand the driving factors of reptile mortality in prescribed fire by correlating snake mortality with weather characteristics and investigating the spatial relationship of snakes with microtopography in the study sites. Our research will help guide land management decisions on when and how to implement prescribed fire in a way that minimizes harm to reptiles.
After a class in Principles of Biology, I spoke to the instructor, John Shadwick, and asked him how I could get involved with ecological research. Ecology had struck me as particularly interesting due to my love of nature and passion for conservation. This led to John referring me to Dr. J.D. Willson. When me and Dr. Willson met, we discussed various different projects ongoing in the lab, and tried to mention which one I would fit into best. After talking about solar arrays and box turtles, Dr. Willson mentioned a project about prescribed fire. I found this particularly interesting as I had interacted with prescribed fire often before, as I was a firefighter before going to university.
This project has spurred both professional and personal development throughout the course of the past year, and it will continue to develop me as I move into my last semester. This research has enhanced my communication skills by requiring me to convey information between different groups to organize surveys and share data with other interested parties. Additionally, I have been able to apply some of the concepts and skills I have learned in my classwork in this real world research. For example, I am currently using ArcGIS software to plot and analyze snake mortalities in relation to prairie mounds present across NWA remnant prairies.
However, much of what I have learned has come from my mentor, Dr. Willson, and the other students within the lab. Our survey method consisted of a group of people walking a grid throughout the survey site, looking for snake mortality. Due to this personnel intensive approach, the other students in the lab and Dr. Willson frequently came out to help with the surveys, saving myself hours upon hours of survey time. Finally, Ethan Royal, the person who started this project and our current post doc, has helped me immensely through both advice, and also being a person to bounce my own ideas off of. This upcoming spring, I will be finishing my bachelors and joining the workforce. I have already been hired on by the United States Forest Service as a
Wildland Firefighter. After developing my skills in the field, I hope to complete a master’s in land management or restoration ecology so that I can lead the way in restoring our natural heritage.