The Use of Fertility Control To Manage Urban Prairie Dog Populations
This webinar, which was originally presented on January 28, 2021, features Dan Salkeld, PhD, Research Scientist II at Colorado State University and a BIWFC Grant Recipient. Dr. Salkeld discusses results of an investigation into the potential of an immunocontraceptive – GonaCon – to humanely and sustainably manage prairie dog populations by reducing breeding success. Three matched pairs of sites were used in this study – one site where adult female prairie dogs were vaccinated with GonaCon, and one site where a sham vaccine was administered – in Fort Collins and Denver, Colorado. Visual measures of reproductive output (number of offspring emerging from adult female’s burrows) were significantly lower in Gonacon-treated sites.
About the Presenter: Dan Salkeld, PhD
BIWFC Grant Recipient Dan Salkeld, PhD, serves as a Research Scientist II for the Department of Biology at Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, CO where he teaches courses on Ecology of Infectious Disease and One Health. Prior to CSU Dan was a Lecturer and Research Scientist in the Program in Human Biology, Woods Institute for the Environment, and Department of Anthropology at Stanford University. He has also served as a Researcher at the California State University – Fullerton and University of California – Berkley, as well as for IUCN – The International Union for Conservation of Nature in Washington, DC. He holds a PhD in Ecology from James Cook University in Townsville, Australia and a BSc in Zoology from University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Dan has published numerous articles in professional publications and presented at conferences and workshops around the world. Currently his research focuses on the intersection of disease ecology, conservation and public health e.g., emerging tick-borne diseases in California.