Carbofuran and Wildlife Poisoning

Contributor Biographies

Ngaio L. Richards

Ngaio Richards is a forensic ecologist and conservationist. Her multidisciplinary background includes a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science from Acadia University (Nova Scotia, Canada) and an MSc in Natural Resource Sciences with emphasis on applied wildlife biology and ecotoxicology from McGill University (Québec, Canada). Her MSc research, conducted under the direction of Pierre Mineau and David Bird, examined the relative risks posed by habitat loss and pesticide exposure to eastern screech-owls in apple orchards of southern Québec. In autumn 2010, she obtained a PhD in Forensic Science from Anglia Ruskin University (UK) for a study titled: Detection of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in hair, nails and feathers using GC-MS, with emphasis on diclofenac, a forensic tool for wildlife conservation. Her interests lie in small-scale community-based conservation initiatives and facilitating the development of collaborative environmental monitoring networks. She also has a great fondness for vultures, owls, bears, hyenas and wolves, and is a champion for uncharismatic wildlife. Ngaio is the Canine Field Specialist for Working Dogs for Conservation, a non-profit organisation based in Montana (USA).

CHAPTER 1

Stephen Donovan

Stephen Donovan has been a principal research chemist in the Agrichemical Industry for over 25 years, working for American Cyanamid, BASF and FMC. He obtained a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of California and conducted his post-doctoral research at Cornell University. Dr Donovan is the author of numerous publications and patents relating to pesticides. He is proficient with a variety of modern analytical tools such as: LC/MS, LC/MS/MS, GC/MS, ICP/MS and LC/ICP/MS. He also has expertise in organic synthesis, compound purification, compound identification, physical property measurements, quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR), pharmacokinetics and ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity). He is currently serving as an analytical chemist at the Pennsylvania Department of Health in the Chemical Terrorism Preparedness Section (affiliated with the Centre for Disease Control (CDC)), where he measures toxins in human fluids via LC-MS/MS and LC-ICP/MS.

Mark Taggart

Mark Taggart is an experienced environmental chemist and ecotoxicologist currently working as a research fellow at the Environmental Research Institute in the Highlands of Scotland. He studied as an undergraduate in Liverpool, undertaking a BSc in Earth Science and Countryside Management, and then turned more toward chemistry, carrying out an MSc in Geochemistry at Leeds. He then worked in industry, in flue gas desulphurisation in the two largest coal-fired power stations in the UK, before spending four years with the Environment Agency in London as a Monitoring and Investigations Officer. In 2000, he returned to academia to undertake a PhD in arsenic biogeochemistry at Aberdeen in Scotland, studying the effects of one of Europe’s largest ever acid mine spills at Aznalcóllar in Spain. Since this point, he has undertaken a very wide range of research related to the fate, behaviour and toxicology of organic/inorganic pollutants in the environment in the UK, Spain and India. He has published well over 40-peer reviewed articles and book chapters in this field, many of which are related to the ecotoxicology of heavy metals and metalloids, and the impact of diclofenac (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) on vultures in India. He has worked extensively within the field of avian ecotoxicology in particular.

CHAPTER 2

Pierre Mineau

Pierre Mineau is a Senior Research Scientist in the Science and Technology Branch of Environment Canada. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biology at Carleton University and in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. He obtained his BSc from McGill University (Québec, Canada) and his MSc and PhD from Queens University (Ontario, Canada). His doctoral research focused on the effects of forestry insecticides on food-caching memory in birds.

For a 15-year period, Dr Mineau was responsible for the wildlife risk assessment of pesticides for the Canadian regulatory system. As part of these responsibilities, he led the scientific review of carbofuran which culminated in the removal of most of its uses from Canada. He received formal commendation for this work. Following a restructuring of this system, he turned to full-time research. With the help of many collaborators, he spans various scales of biological organisation-from the use of sub-cellular biomarkers of pesticide exposure, to analyses of bird population trends in response to pesticide use patterns. By extension, he also studies risk assessment methodology, how agricultural practices affect wildlife and the environment more generally, how to objectively measure and communicate the ‘environmental footprint’ of pest control practices, as well as the ecological ‘value’ of birds in cropland. Dr Mineau has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and given over 200 presentations. He has served as a consultant in the area of pesticide impacts to several international agencies as well as governmental and non-governmental organisations in Canada and abroad.

Carol Uphoff Meteyer

Carol Meteyer has been a wildlife pathologist at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in Madison, Wisconsin (USA) since 1992. She received a BSc in Biology and Chemistry at the University of Iowa and worked as a research assistant in Costa Rica on a study of the ecology and feeding habits of Atta cephalotes (leaf-cutter ant) in Guanacaste National Forest. She completed a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University in 1983. Starting in 1984, Carol conducted a three-year residency in comparative pathology in association with the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles County Medical and Veterinary Service. From 1987 to 1991, she was on the faculty of the UC Davis College of Veterinary Medicine as a diagnostic pathologist with the California Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System. She received board certification by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in 1988.

Carol’s duties at the NWHC have both a forensic and diagnostic component. In her capacity as a forensic pathologist, she provides pathology support for legal cases within the US Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Law Enforcement. She has also investigated numerous incidences of animal poisoning, including carbamate and organophosphate poisoning cases. As a diagnostic pathologist, she is involved in determining the cause of morbidity and mortality in wildlife. Carol has participated in special investigations on migratory birds, endangered species and species of concern, including assessing causes of: southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) population declines, amphibian malformations, vulture (Gyps sp.) population declines in Pakistan due to secondary poisoning with the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, the pathology of monkey pox in rodents, pathogenesis of plague in prairie dogs, and the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in kestrels and shorebirds. Carol has also been part of a team to define pathologic changes associated with diseases in coral and she has served as the lead pathologist at the NWHC investigating white-nose syndrome in bats.

Stuart Porter

Stuart Porter is a Professor of Veterinary Technology at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, Virginia (USA). His background includes a BSc in Biology from Washington and Lee University (Virginia) and a VMD from the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). He has worked as a resident veterinarian at the Memphis, Tennessee and Gladys Porter Zoos. In 1982, he co-founded the Wildlife Centre of Virginia (WCV), where he went on to serve as the Director of Veterinary Services for 12 years. It was at the WCV that he documented intoxication in a number of wild birds from carbamates (including carbofuran) and organophosphates, lead and chlorinated hydrocarbons. As a result, he initiated the measurement of cholinesterase levels in various raptors to determine in-house reference ranges. In the process, he discovered that many hawks and eagles admitted as ‘car strikes’ also tested positive for poisoning. He was able to confirm his findings and gather more data by networking with other wildlife professionals across the country. Dr Porter has served on the board of directors of the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association, the Rachel Carson Council, and the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association. He has given presentations to veterinary students, veterinarians, wildlife rehabilitators and wildlife biologists throughout the US and as far away as Australia to increase awareness of the many man-made toxins and how they affect native wildlife. He has also contributed many articles and book chapters centring on various wildlife-related issues.

CHAPTER 3: KENYA

Joseph O. Lalah

Professor Joseph Lalah has a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Nairobi, an MSc in Energy from the University of Leeds and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Nairobi. He has worked in various sectors, including government, industry and university. He was a senior lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, Maseno University, before joining the Kenya Polytechnic University College as an Associate Professor in March 2010. Professor Lalah lectures in analytical, inorganic and environmental chemistry. His research area is environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology and he has published several...