Friends of the Island Fox's Virtual Program on current island fox research.
"Date With A Fox"
with guests Juliann Schamel and Dr. Alexandra DeCandia
from Tuesday, April 30th
The April program highlighted current findings on island fox diet and microbiome. Microbiome investigations can help us understand how island foxes and island spotted skunks are using resources in the island ecosystem. Dietary investigations analyzing stable isotopes in whisker samples are revealing changes in island fox diet as their population size recovers and potential resource competition with island spotted skunks.
Both research presenters are past recipients of Friends of the Island Fox Research Grants.
Dr. Alexandra DeCandia is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Biology Dept. at Georgetown University and works with the Center for Conservation Genomics at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Her work has been published in Molecular Ecology and she is currently working on a joint project with Juliann Schamel supported by Friends of the Island Fox.
Juliann Schamel is a Biological Science Technician working with island foxes at Channel Islands National Park and a graduate student in ecology and conservation at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Her work has been published in PLOS ONE and she presented a poster on island fox and island spotted skunk dietary overlap at the California Island Symposium.
Informed conservation decisions for island foxes and island spotted skunks depend on scientific knowledge.
Friends of the Island Fox is currently
accepting applications for our 2024 FIF Research Grant.
Subscribe to the FIF bi-monthly e-newsletter for invitations to upcoming "Date with a Fox" presentations.