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Recent flooding caused by remnants of Hurricane Helene stranded many aquatic species, including crawfish, on land far from the New River.  

A few days after the flooding, Professor of Biology Sara O鈥橞rien, Ph.D., took students in her Endocrinology Lab (BIOL 478) to sample displaced crawfish for hormones and microplastics. 

These organisms allowed O鈥橞rien鈥檚 students to explore how unpredictable events like hurricanes impact surrounding wildlife. With proper permits in place, the professor and her team of student researchers gathered crawfish to explore changes in their physiology due to their displacement. 

The student research team also collected samples to explore the presence and abundance of microplastics in these normally territorial underwater sediment dwellers. 

Joining the group was Associate Professor Jamie Lau, chair of the biology department, who collected 20 stream bank sediment samples along a 1.2-mile stretch along the New River at Bisset Park.

鈥淥ur goal is to determine whether microplastics (MPs) in riverbeds were displaced by the floodwaters and settled along the stream bank as the water receded,鈥� Lau said while noting that she, O鈥橞rien, and their undergraduate research students will later look for how the concentration of microplastics changes when the riverbanks settle back to normal depth.

鈥淲e are expecting a high concentration of MPs in these initial samples, and we expect the concentration to decrease over time,鈥� Lau explained. 鈥淲e are studying MPs because they are ecologically and physiologically connected. The MPs can be mistaken for a food source, which would be consequential to organisms that ingest them. More to come as we process the samples.鈥�

While working along the river, O鈥橞rien and her students talked with Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Del. Jason Ballard, who were touring areas around Radford University impacted by flooding. 

鈥淭his opportunity allowed students to use what they are learning in the classroom to explore the impacts of Hurricane Helene on our Virginian wildlife in real time,鈥� O鈥橞rien said. 鈥淏ecause of the pressures of climate change, our tight-knit Appalachian communities and our unique Appalachian ecosystems will continue to be challenged, but here at Radford, we are working to train our future scientists to address these challenges." 

Once scientific sampling was completed, O鈥橞rien and her students used the rest of the laboratory period to hand-rescue as many of the stranded fish and crawfish as they could, returning them to the river. 

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