Abby Youens
Abby's Capstone Talk
Abby's TAS talk 2007
Research Summary:
During my time at Southwestern, I investigated three major research
questions about P. insularum. First, I was interested in what conditions
are ideal applesnail growth, so during the 2006 BSRP, Brandon Boland and I
set up a two by two experiment measuring the effects of salinity and fish
cue on juvenile applesnail growth at two different temperature levels.
Second, I wanted to know the body size relationships of P. insularum,
whether they are similar to those of P. canaliculata, and what measurement
is most valid and reliable for measuring apple snail size. To answer this
question, everyone in the lab measured juvenile and adult applesnails using
shell height, operculum width, and weight, and I calculated linear and
logistic regressions to explain the relationships. Also, six people from
the lab measured the same set of 10 adult and 10 juvenile snails, and I
calculated the coefficients of variance between measurements obtained on the
same snails using the same measurements. Thus, I determined that operculum
width is a more reliable measure than shell height for juvenile and adult P.
insularum. My third research question was whether or not P. insularum eggs
can hatch when they are exposed to water. To test this, I exposed clutches
to either no water, 6 seconds of water per day, 6 hours of water per day, or
constant submersion, and counted hatching efficiency, hatching time, and
looked at how developed the hatchlings were in each treatment. Because P.
insularum eggs are damaged, hatch prematurely, or do not hatch at all when
exposed to water, knocking the bright pink egg clutches in the water could
be an effective control measure.
Where I've been and Where I'm going:
I started to work in the aquatic ecology lab after taking a class in invertebrate ecology.
At the time, I was not sure exactly what area of biology I wanted to go into after college,
but I was intrigued by the apple snails both because of their threat as an exotic invasive species
and because my brothers used to call me applesnail when I was a kid. After graduating from Southwestern
in May 2007, I obtained my Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Texas Health
Science Center at Houston in May 2009. As a graduate student at the UT Health Science Center at Houston
(School of Public Health), I found that my serendipitous discovery of
my love for aquatic ecology was helpful in many ways. Doing research helped me understand statistics, study design, and how to develop
an understanding of the literature. I also found out that studying snails was something I had in common
with two of my professors at the school of public health. Also, I am supremely lucky to have had the
difficult but rewarding experience of writing and co-authoring manuscripts. I was one of the few students
in my graduate program who had already published an article, and understanding the process was helpful
when I began to prepare a manuscript based on my masters thesis.
Since I graduated with my Master of Public Health in Epidemiology, I have been working for the Texas Department of
State Health Services as an Epidemiology Investigator. In a typical day at my job, I conduct phone investigations
with people who have had notifiable conditions and their medical providers. In addition to collecting information,
I educate patients and groups such as day care centers on how to prevent diseases from spreading. I primarily work on
vaccine-preventable diseases (such as pertussis, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B), foodborne diseases
(such as salmonellosis and E. coli infection), and influenza. I have been highly involved in the
investigation of H1N1 in our jurisdiction.
My future plans include getting married to my fiance, Shane Smith, and then to start working on applications to medical school to continue
my career in public health. In the meantime, if you have any questions,
Free free to email me!