Erin Guntrum

I assist veterinarians and technicians with exams, procedures, and surgeries at a clinic that offers both general practice and 24/7 emergency services.

I also care for (feed, medicate, walk, and bathe) all boarding animals at the hospital.

Additionally, I am also responsible for cleaning, disinfecting, and re-stocking the hospital.

Perform behavioral assessments for incoming daycare dogs, monitor the daycare, clean the daycare rooms, prepare and provide meals to dogs, administer medications when necessary.

Watch swimmers, keep the pool area clean, make schedules for the other guards.

Hoolock gibbons (Hoolock hoolock) are a little-studied species of lesser ape. Very little is known about their biology or behavior. The Margulis lab has analyzed hormonal patterns in the closely-related white-cheeked gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys). We now have the opportunity to do a similar analysis on a female hoolock gibbon. To our knowledge, no one has documented cycling patterns in this species. I, along with another student, Lexie Haley, will be studying female reproductive hormones in hoolock gibbons. We have begun the project which started with sorting the 345 fecal samples from an individual hoolock gibbon from the Gibbon Conservation Center. These were to be sorted by month/date/year for before, during, and after the female (ChanThar) reached sexual maturity. The next phase of the project requires doing hormone extractions for female reproductive hormones from the oldest and newest samples we have received from the Gibbon Conservation Center. This is done by weighing out samples, and following the extraction protocol for the fecal samples. They then get run on assay plates (Estrogen (E1G) and Progesterone). This primary step will ensure that we can 1) see hormone cycling and 2) ensure that the assay plate recognizes the appropriate metabolites. We hope to complete these preliminary steps by the end of spring semester. During the 2019-20 academic year, we will continue with extractions and hormone assays to assess the cycling patterns before, during, and after the female hoolock gibbon reaches sexual maturity. We will also reach out the Gibbon Conservation Center for photos so we can link hormone patterns to the change in coat color seen during the sexual maturing process, and for samples on any other hoolock gibbons that they may have. Further project details are still in the works, and further study opportunities may arise.