Fieldwork in EALAT WP 6 |
Written by Philip Burgess | ||||||||
Thursday, 09 October 2008 00:00 | ||||||||
Elli Risten Nergård is Sami researcher pursuing her Phd in Work Package 6 of the EALAT project. She is a trained veterinarian, has worked for the Norwegian Mattilsynet and is currently a Major in the Norwegian army. These last few weeks have seen an intense period of field work on both a small herd of animals that are being housed at the Department of Arctic Biology (part of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tromso, also the home of EALAT researcher Monica Sundset).
Nergård's research concerns the critical issue of castration in a herd of reindeer - an issue that encompasses individual animal welfare and herd wellbeing and Sami herders autonomy regarding their ability to shape their herd according to climatic, ecological and biological requirements. Her working title is Aspects of castration and animal welfare in the reindeer herd in a changing climate.
Nergård's experimentation involves examining the responses of reindeer to alternative forms of castration. Field work in Tromso also included recording various data including blood sampling, temperatures, weight, height and antler formation and behaviour around a female in heat.
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