Scott Medlin
Bio
Scott Medlin
| Age: | 32 |
| Hometown: | Omaha, Nebraska |
| School: | UW-Madison |
| Field-of-Study: | Veterinary Medicine (with a special interest in exotic animals and wildlife) |
Future goals: To work with big cat and wild cat conservation groups and preserve those species from extinction, and/or to become a clinical veterinarian at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo.
Objective
Mother and young two-toed sloth.
Sloths are an important bioindicator for evaluating the health of a much larger spectrum of animals in the rural Costa Rican environment. With the introduction of new technologies and chemicals into the agricultural practices of rural Costa Rica, the health and well-being of the sloth (and therefore other species as well) may be coming under threat both through the introduction of toxins and the break up of their habitat.
My research is a pilot study that focuses on the toxins that can be identified in the blood of the sloth. Each of the captured sloth are given a thorough physical exam and blood is drawn for toxicological analysis. These blood samples will be analyzed in two different ways: one for agricultural chemicals, which at high levels can be toxic to animals, and the second for a broad spectrum of compounds that may be present in the sloth's system. Although this second test while focus more on “what” is in the blood as opposed to “how much,” this test will provide an excellent foundation of data by allowing to us to determine which compounds we may want to further focus in on in a future study.
My hope is that through evaluation of sloth health, we will gain a clearer picture of the benefits of cacao farming in the maintenance of Costa Rica's vast biodiversity.
Update
Mother and young two-toed sloth.
I appreciate being here because I view this as an opportunity to begin my career in conservation medicine or wildlife medicine. One of the unique experiences that I'm finding in this research is the collaboration occurring between different groups of scientists, allowing us to be as efficient as possible in extracting data from each animal. I have had the opportunity to work with at least six Costa Rican scientists (including veterinarians, vet students, and wildlife ecologists), in addition to six American scientists from three different universities. There were a total of eight research projects brought together for this opportunity. In particular, I have found the vet school at UNA in Costa Rica to be a wonderful resource of information and experience.
Outcome
The samples were successfully collected from the sloth and transported back to the United States where they were sent for analysis at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab. The mass spectrometry and the cholinesterase values have been collected but are still undergoing analysis and interpretation at present so the final results are still pending.