Gemstone Team Research

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/9070

The Gemstone Program at the University of Maryland is a unique multidisciplinary four-year research program for selected undergraduate honors students of all majors. Under guidance of faculty mentors and Gemstone staff, teams of students design, direct and conduct significant research, often but not exclusively exploring the interdependence of science and technology with society. Gemstone students are members of a living-learning community comprised of fellow students, faculty and staff who work together to enrich the undergraduate experience. This community challenges and supports the students in the development of their research, teamwork, communication and leadership skills. In the fourth year, each team of students presents its research in the form of a thesis to experts, and the students complete the program with a citation and a tangible sense of accomplishment.

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Author: search.filters.author.Clemens, MarjorieSubject: search.filters.subject.diamondback terrapin

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    Excluding mammalian predators from diamondback terrapin nesting beaches with an electric fence
    (2009-05) Bennett, Curtis; Chaudhry, Sona; Clemens, Marjorie; Gilmer, Lacy; Lee, Samantha; Parker, Thomas; Peterson, Emily; Rajkowski, Jessica; Shih, Karen; Subramaniam, Sasika; Wells, Rachel; White, Jessica; Adams, Lowell
    Over the past century, diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) populations in the Chesapeake Bay region of the United States have declined from their historic abundance. One factor contributing to the decline is increased predation on terrapin nests by raccoons (Procyon lotor) and foxes (Vulpes vulpes and Urocyon cinereoargenteus). We studied the use of electric fences to deter these predators from nesting beaches along the lower Patuxent River, Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties, Maryland. Over the two-year study, the predation rate within treatment (fenced) plots was 40% (4 of 10 nests) compared to 69% (20 of 29 nests) in control plots. We believe that electric fences have potential as a conservation technique for reducing mammalian predation on diamondback terrapin nests.