TU-supported research helps answer ‘How did the tortoise cross the road?’

By Megan Bradshaw on June 28, 2019

Towson University professors place a strong emphasis on mentoring students, in and out of the classroom.

In biology professor Richard Siegel’s case, it was way out of the classroom. 

Siegel served as Rhett Rautsaw’s co-major professor and was the co-primary investigator (PI) on the grant that funded Rautsaw’s work. Rautsaw is a Clemson University Ph.D. candidate who researched the impact of railways on gopher tortoises in Florida.  

Railways are a “nearly inescapable trap” for the tortoises, Rautsaw concluded. The tortoises are unable to cross the lines, which causes habitat fragmentation, “smaller populations, inbreeding and loss of adaptive potential that escalates species toward extinction.” Rautsaw’s proposition is simple but effective: dig trenches beneath the rails. He says Florida’s Sunrail™ has contacted him and is committed to addressing the issue along its lines.

Rautsaw recently received a BioOne Ambassador Award, which is presented annually to five rising scholars in their fields.  

The research team sponsored by the grant included members from several U.S. universities. TU’s Scott Martin—now completing his Ph.D. at Ohio State—also assisted with the research and co-authored papers produced from the research.

“The overall significance of the research is to demonstrate how basic research can help solve applied questions in the area of conservation of wildlife species,” says Siegel. “In this case, Rhett found a simple but innovative solution to a problem many had noted—how railroads negatively impact wildlife species—but few had a solution for.”