Research Enewsletter Listing
Captive breeding appears to have saved the Vancouver Island marmot, but genetic problems may lie hidden in the population, says VIU biologist Prof. Jamie Gorrell who is embarking on a five-year study to determine if the marmot recovery program, breeding animals in zoos and introducing offspring into the wild, has led to a wild population whose individuals are more closely related than is healthy.
Jamie Gorrell, a biology professor at Vancouver Island University, is studying ... inbreeding between the rodents and the resulting lack of genetic diversity. Gorrell has received a 2018 Discovery Grant by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, which will grant him $24,000 per year for five years to conduct the research.