Identification of Helminths and their Intermediate Hosts at High Latitudes | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced a discretionary grant opportunity titled "Identification of Helminths and their Intermediate Hosts at High Latitudes" (Funding Opportunity Number: USGS 16 FA 0307). The award is structured as a cooperative agreement under the Natural Resources funding activity (CFDA 15.808). It was posted on July 11, 2016, with an original application closing date of July 25, 2016. The opportunity anticipated a single award with a maximum funding level (award ceiling) of $25,000. Eligible applicants were private institutions of higher education, and the notice is specifically described as a "Notice of Intent to Award to Sam Houston State University," meaning the agency signaled its intention to make the award to that institution rather than run a broad, open competition.

The project focuses on helminths, which are parasitic worms that can infect wildlife, and it targets high-latitude ecosystems in the Alaskan Arctic and subarctic. A central theme is improving understanding of parasite transmission in these environments, where aquatic food webs and seasonal wildlife movements can strongly influence how parasites circulate among hosts. Because many helminths have complex life cycles involving multiple hosts, a key scientific need is identifying which intermediate hosts are responsible for maintaining and transmitting the parasite stages that ultimately infect birds and other wildlife.

The first objective is to identify the intermediate hosts of parasites already known to infect hosts in the Alaskan Arctic and subarctic. In practical terms, this means determining which specific aquatic invertebrates serve as the required "bridge" hosts in the parasite life cycle. Many helminths rely on aquatic invertebrates (for example, various snails, crustaceans, or insect larvae, depending on the parasite group) to develop from one life stage to another before they can infect vertebrate hosts such as waterfowl. Pinpointing the exact invertebrate species involved helps clarify where and when transmission risk is highest and can improve ecological models of parasite spread in northern environments.

The second objective is to evaluate how reliably helminths can be detected from waterfowl fecal samples, with the goal of assessing a non-lethal sampling method for helminth surveillance. Traditional parasite studies often depend on necropsy or other invasive approaches that are not always feasible or desirable, particularly for protected species or long-term ecological studies. By testing detection probability in feces, the project aims to determine whether fecal-based monitoring can serve as a dependable alternative for understanding infection patterns in living birds. This involves assessing the likelihood of detecting infection given a fecal sample, which can be influenced by factors like intermittent shedding, parasite burden, seasonality, and the sensitivity of the laboratory methods used.

The third objective is to genetically test fecal samples from marked (individually identified) waterfowl for the presence of helminths that were previously identified through earlier work. The use of genetic testing indicates an emphasis on molecular detection, which can increase sensitivity and allow identification even when parasite eggs or larvae are difficult to distinguish morphologically. Linking parasite detection to marked individuals is important because it enables researchers to associate infection status with known birds over time, which supports evaluation of potential fitness consequences. In this context, "fitness consequences" generally refers to whether infected birds show measurable impacts such as reduced body condition, altered survival, reduced reproductive success, or other performance-related outcomes. By pairing infection data with information from marked birds, the project can move beyond presence/absence and begin addressing how parasites may affect host health and population dynamics in high-latitude ecosystems.

Overall, the opportunity supports applied wildlife disease ecology work in Alaska, combining parasite life-cycle investigation with the development and validation of non-lethal monitoring tools and molecular diagnostics. The intended outcome is a clearer understanding of which aquatic invertebrates sustain helminth transmission at high latitudes, how effectively infections can be monitored through fecal sampling, and whether detectable infections in individual waterfowl correlate with indicators of host fitness.

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