Feeding in 160F: How do they do it?

Kelly Willemssens Author

03/03/2016 Added

47 Plays

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First Place in the Doctorate category of the 2016 School of Natural Resources Elevator Speech Contest. Kelly is a doctoral candidate seeking a degree in Natural Resource Sciences with a specialization in Applied Ecology.

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[00:00:00.417]A challenge only become an obstacle when you bow to it.
[00:00:03.160]I love this quote and it applies to many things in life.
[00:00:06.452]As an insect biologist, I often get the question,
[00:00:09.438]Why do you study those stupid little insects,
[00:00:12.445]when you could study cool mammals or reptiles?
[00:00:14.903]But what if I told you a small beetle
[00:00:17.565]can better cope with climate change and pollution
[00:00:19.739]than us humans.
[00:00:20.897]And by studying them, we can use their strategies
[00:00:24.026]to solve our problems.
[00:00:25.671]Let me tell you how.
[00:00:27.784]Imagine, that you're a small beetle
[00:00:29.897]and you have to fight over food in order to stay alive.
[00:00:32.742]Now in front of you is a pool
[00:00:34.106]full of delicious dead insects.
[00:00:35.995]The problem?
[00:00:37.213]It's a thermal pool in Yellowstone National Park
[00:00:39.856]of about 160 degrees Fahrenheit
[00:00:42.232]and full of toxic heavy metals like lead and mercury.
[00:00:45.463]But if you're able to survive you can enjoy
[00:00:48.287]an all you can eat buffet.
[00:00:49.913]Quite the challenge, isn't it?
[00:00:51.904]Well that's exactly what the Wet Salts tiger beetles
[00:00:54.342]were able to do.
[00:00:55.215]But how in the world are they able to survive in this water?
[00:00:58.547]It's a unique behavior that's never been documented
[00:01:01.067]before and discovering its secrets will be my challenge.
[00:01:04.886]This summer I'll be going to Yellowstone National Park
[00:01:08.117]to investigate this.
[00:01:09.173]So basically imagine me laying on the ground
[00:01:11.793]observing these beetles for hours
[00:01:13.947]in an area full of bears, bison, wolves
[00:01:16.731]and steaming hot water.
[00:01:18.173]So, yeah, health insurance.
[00:01:22.542][laughter]
[00:01:23.597]One technique the beetles might use to prevent overheating
[00:01:26.117]is the use of a water bubble.
[00:01:27.560]If you take a close look at the top left picture
[00:01:29.956]you might be able to see a water bubble underneath
[00:01:32.455]the beetles body.
[00:01:33.736]It reduces heat similar to when humans sweat
[00:01:36.378]to release heat.
[00:01:37.373]A different possibility is the use of heat shock proteins
[00:01:40.949]shown in the bottom figure.
[00:01:42.695]On the left you have a normal folded protein
[00:01:45.337]and with extreme temperatures it will unfold.
[00:01:47.816]Then heat shock proteins are released
[00:01:49.665]and they will attach to this protein
[00:01:51.412]and help it refold again.
[00:01:52.813]Therefore, restoring the cells function.
[00:01:55.007]Humans also have heat shock proteins
[00:01:58.056]and through unraveling the mystery for the beetles,
[00:02:00.413]we could reduce the risk of overheating for humans as well.
[00:02:04.415]Also, heavy metals are very bad for the environment
[00:02:08.072]and through learning how these beetles can cope
[00:02:09.454]with these extreme levels we could reduce the risk
[00:02:12.303]to our environment.
[00:02:13.746]And lastly, climate change is causing some areas to
[00:02:17.017]get warmer, some colder, some drier and others more wet.
[00:02:19.943]And if we look for animals with similar traits
[00:02:22.536]and behaviors to the Wet Salts tiger beetles,
[00:02:25.217]we could predict which animals can better cope
[00:02:27.329]at higher temperatures
[00:02:28.570]and therefore allocating the right funding to help
[00:02:31.494]save the right animals.
[00:02:32.937]A challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it.
[00:02:37.225]These beetles were able to overcome a huge challenge.
[00:02:40.393]So my question is,
[00:02:42.060]Are we going to let climate change
[00:02:44.214]and pollution become an impossible obstacle to us?
[00:02:46.835]I say, hey challenge, bring it on.
[00:02:51.203]Thank you.
[00:02:52.442][Applause]

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Feeding in 160F: How do they do it?

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