Protocols
I created this instruction set as a guide to bleeding wild birds from the brachial vein. I wanted to create something that field crew leaders could potential hand out to novice bleeders to assist in procuring adequate samples with minimizing stress on the bird.
Locating the brachial vein in songbirds (ex. Loggerhead Shrike)
Woodpecker specimens in the PSU vertebrate collection
Natural History Collections
For this assignment, I created an informational document describing the woodpecker family, Picidae. I was able to take a topic I find truly fascinating and have a thorough understanding of and attempt to describe it to an audience with little knowledge about birds. I mostly write papers for a scientific audience, so this was good practice really breaking down my information into basic terms. I was also able to use photos of specimens from the Penn State vertebrates collection in order to create my document and help educate others about the diversity of avian species.
