College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University

Life span

Carol Vleck goes to the ends of the Earth to see why some birds live longer than others
First it was Antarctica.

Now Carol Vleck, associate professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, is going to Belize in Central America.

All to determine why some birds live longer in one location than the same species does elsewhere in the world.

"My research interests span several related areas of physiological ecology," Vleck says. "My general goal is to understand the physiological mechanisms that underlie organismal-level phenomena having to do with reproduction and survival."

To that end, Vleck's current research activities involve exploring the interaction of aging, life span and telomere biology. She uses a combination of field and lab techniques while working on a variety of avian species including penguins.

Vleck and graduate student Mark Haussmann have developed a technique for estimating the age of free-living animals, such as penguins, using the changes in the length of their telomeres. Telomeres are short tandem repeated sequences of DNA found at the ends of chromosomes.

"The rate of shortening of telomeres varies with life span," she says."Long-lived species preserve telomere length better than short-lived species. We're trying to find out more about the underlying mechanisms and how these birds can slow the aging process."

On three different occasions Vleck has been to Antarctica to observe and research penguins. But a trip to Antarctica is not without its challenges.

For one, the research season occurs during Iowa State's academic year.

"If I go there I can only be on campus to teach for the first half of one semester and the second half of the other," Vleck said. "It's also impossible to get undergraduates involved in your research and somewhat troublesome to involve graduate students. It's so expensive and time consuming (researchers typically spend three to six months in Antarctica), you can't take a whole group of people with you."

During her last attempted trip to Antarctica, Vleck experienced health problems, making future prolonged research trips to that continent difficult to be sanctioned.

So Vleck is looking at other, less difficult areas to study colonial birds. This spring break she plans to travel to Belize to study mangrove swallows. The mangrove swallow typically lives 40 percent longer than swallows in the United States.

"We're trying to understand the physiological aspects of why these birds have longer life spans than their U.S. relatives," Vleck said.

Just because Vleck has some obstacles to continue her research in Antarctica doesn't mean that she has given up traveling to the continent. She will lead the International Biology Field Trip to Antarctica during the semester break next winter.

This will be the second study abroad trip Vleck has led to Antarctica from Iowa State.

"Antarctica is such a different place to describe - to put into words," she said. "Traveling there is unique to experience. Hopefully some of the students who travel there will be jazzed about it and find opportunities to continue to go there."

Cost of the 12-day trip will be approximately $5,000 to $6,000 depending upon the number of participants and transportation costs. This includes all travel, lodging, gratuities, trip insurance and most meals.

Applications will be accepted starting Jan. 12 and Vleck expects to fill the trip by Feb. 1. If for some reason student interest lags, Vleck says she will open the trip to faculty and staff.