In August and September 2018, Amy Newsom from Germany visited Karlstad University and did an internship with NRRV. Here she writes about her months at Karlstad University.

“Having spent a year at Karlstad University as an exchange student in 2017 in the framework of my bachelor program “Environmental and Sustainability Studies” at the Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany, I had already been able to gain a first impression of the university’s biology department, which sparked my interest in freshwater ecology. Consequently, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Naturresurs rinnande vatten Team for a six-week internship in August and September of 2018.

During the weeks I spent at Karlstad University, I was able to work with different researchers, getting to know a variety of projects and greatly extending my previous knowledge on freshwater and riparian ecology, in particular river connectivity. My main aim in this internship was to gain more practical research experience, so I was glad to be able to spend a lot of time both in the lab and in the field. For example, my work included processing raw data on the ventilation rates of young trout to assess differences in metabolism efficiency, counting the eggs of spiders gathered in the field and preparing samples for stable isotope analysis to assess the impact of hydro dams on food web interactions of fish. This was a particularly interesting experience as stable isotope analysis was a new scientific procedure to me, and I was keen to learn more about it. I was also excited to join in some of the field work conducted during my time at NRRV, collecting fish, invertebrates and plankton samples from the lake Alstern and electrofishing in the rivers Mörrumsån and Emån to assess the overall community composition at different sites. I was furthermore able to gain valuable insights into the design of research experiments while accompanying the setting up of an experimental flume in Älvkarleby and the preparation of eel traps in the river Alsterälven. In the time I spent in the office, I was also able to gather more experience in data analysis and scientific writing, both helpful preparations for my upcoming bachelor thesis.

Returning to Karlstad also gave me the opportunity to improve my Swedish, reconnect with old friends and make new contacts, as well as further explore the forests, rivers and lakes in the area that I have come to love so much. My thanks go out to John Piccolo, on whose invitation I was able join NRRV as an intern, the International Offices both in Karlstad and at my home university for helping me with the administrative process, and the German foundation Meifort Stiftung, whose generous support made this internship possible for me. I am also incredibly grateful to all the researchers at the KAU biology department who warmly welcomed me into their team, took the time to introduce me to their work and helped me gain new knowledge and experience, in particular Olle Calles, Rachel Bowes, Larry Greenberg, Denis Lafage, Karl Filipsson, Andrew Harbicht, Lovisa Lind and Niclas Carlsson.”

During the spring semester the master’s course Scientific methods in freshwater ecology is given at Karlstad University. The course is held by researchers from the NRRV research group, and is included in the master program in ecology and conservation biology at Karlstad University. The course is available for distance students, and most students on the course live in other places in Sweden than Karlstad. We also have international students on the course, this year from both Europe, North America and Africa. In 2018, some parts of the course were carried out together with a visiting student group from Northern Kentucky University.

Here follows a report of the field and laboratory work carried out by the students on the course in 2018.

The first practical session started Monday 24 April, and focused on fish tagging and laboratory studies. The week started with Professor Erik Petersson from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) having a lecture on ethics and legislation concerning animal experimentation. Thereafter the students had practical training in fish handling and sedation. The following days were spent at the laboratory facilities at Karlstad University, where students practiced different methods for tagging fish. The students also conducted experiments in the stream aquarium laboratory, where they examined how the drift-feeding behavior of juvenile brown trout changed in the presence of a predatory fish. This gave the students an opportunity to plan and conduct a laboratory study from the beginning to the end.

After the laboratory session in Karlstad, the week continued in Mörrum in southeastern Sweden. The course was given a tour of the area and shown remedial measures to facilitate fish migration in the regulated river Mörrumsån. In addition, the students conducted a field study where they looked at downstream migration of Atlantic salmon.

 

 

A month later, a second course gathering was held in Karlstad, this time focusing on benthic invertebrate sampling and electrofishing. This course module was carried out together with a visiting student group from Northern Kentucky University. The first day was spent at river Rannån, where students learned different methods to measure abiotic conditions in running waters and how to sample benthic fauna. The second day was spent at river Djupedalsbäcken where the students practiced electrofishing, which resulted in that all students on the course became certified electrofishers. Electrofishing is the most common method used for monitoring fish populations in streams. Therefore, it is a valuable skill for people interested in pursuing a career in stream fish ecology.

 

 

 

Marmoröring nr. 2 landades i dag och märktes efter visst rabalder. Ännu en hona med marmoreringar och stort nästan gäddlikt huvud. Stadig lunch med fjärlispasta (farfalle)med kronärtskocka och tonfisk till primo, fläskkotlett med citron och bönor med grisrulle (!) till secondi…

Under eftermiddagen fixade vi de sista automatiska stationerna, som drivs av solpaneler och då kom elfiskebåten in med… fyra malar
packade som sillar i en back. I Italien ses malen som ett skadedjur och man måste döda dom. Dessa fyra fick behålla livet efter att ha försetts med radiosändare och PIT-tag. Den största malen var 120 cm lång.