Bear-ing Witness to an Extraordinary Research Center
Three Days at the WSU Bear Facility
By Michelle Vierra
Strategic Marketing Manager, Plant & Animal Sciences
Sit! Roll over! Give us a leg! It turns out that getting great grizzlies to cooperate in research is an awful lot like dog obedience training.
How do I know? I was lucky enough to spend three days at the Washington State University Bear Research Center to participate in bear RNA sample collection. And participate I did — no passive observation for me. From the get-go, I was lifting gurneys, opening gates, weighing bears, and situating them for optimal sampling and tracking vitals. I even helped sample adipose tissue from the rump of one bear. It was amazing.
How is it that I found myself in the small town of Pullman, Washington, doing all this work? As the manager of plant and animal sciences at PacBio, I host a SMRT Grant each year, encouraging researchers from around the world to submit short proposals for genome or transcriptome sequencing projects that would benefit from long-read sequencing.
In late 2018, Shawn Trojahn, a graduate student in Dr. Joanna Kelley’s lab at WSU, won the grant for free sequencing with his proposal to characterize alternative splicing of genes in three metabolically relevant tissues of grizzly bears during both hibernation and active season. They want to do this to elucidate the mechanisms behind the ability of bears to suffer no long-term consequences from their drastic behavioral changes in different seasons, like minimal food intake and long periods of little-to-no activity.
Offered an opportunity to visit the site during sampling, I jumped on a plane, joining Bruce Kingham, the director of the genomics core facility at the University of Delaware, which sponsored the SMRT Grant and will be processing the RNA.
A Grizzly Experience
Sure, bear sampling involves a lot of grunt work, but the WSU team conducts the process like a well-choreographed ballet.
It all starts with a hand-off of a bottle of honey water to Brandon Evans Hutzenbiler, the facilities manager and bear trainer, who uses a clicker and dog obedience instructions until the grizzlies happily hand over a paw so that another team member can inject an anesthetic.
Receiving the bear’s leg, that person situates it on a bucket and quickly injects the anesthesia while the bear contentedly slurps honey water.
Five minutes later, the grizzly is sleeping peacefully, and a group of about six people lifts the bear on to a rolling gurney for transport to a room where three veterinarians wait to take samples for various research projects.
By the time that bear is ready to be rolled into recovery, the next bear is ready to be rolled in. It all proceeds with the efficiency of an assembly line.
A beary close-knit group
“It takes a village.”
That was the phrase uttered with a smile by veterinarian Gay Lynn Clyde as she took the tube of eye lubricant offered by Associate Professor Joanna Kelley to apply to the eyes of the >300-pound grizzly bear anesthetized on the table in front of us. As they monitored the bear for respiration, heart rate and reflexes, I pondered the choice of words.
The phrase is more commonly used in reference to raising children with a loving community, not about rearing grizzly bears. But seeing the collaboration between volunteers, veterinarians, bear trainers, grad students, and principal investigators that come together to care for and research these bears, and the way they treat these fascinating creatures as family members, I began to understand what she meant.
After completing sampling from three adolescent bears — Kio, Peeka, and Luna — on day one, we were muddy, sore, and exhilarated. Over beers and dinner, I was able to chat with everyone and dive in a little deeper on what drives them to work with these fantastic beasts.
Joy Erlenbach, a PhD student in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, regaled me with tales of raising bear cubs in her apartment. From bottle feeding and playing to learning the basic commands that make sampling a breeze, she built a close relationship with the cubs. It’s even more evident when the cubs, now four years old, suckle their paws in contentment as Joy approaches their dens.
Another graduate student, Tony Carnahan, informed me about which bears put up the biggest fight on learning how to use the treadmill that he employs in his research on thermal energetics of grizzlies. The way he spoke about them was almost like he was discussing sulking toddlers, not 500-pound grizzly bears.
On the other side of the table, Dr. Heiko Jansen, who studies biological rhythms and their roles in physiology and metabolism, also shared his fond memories of hand raising the cubs, calling it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The way he showed video after video of the little babies rolling down a grassy hill was reminiscent of a proud papa who ‘can’t believe how quickly they grow up.’
Charles ‘Charlie’ Robbins, who I’d call the most grizzled veteran of the bear facility, was fairly reserved throughout the sampling process and at dinner. But the love he has for the bears and the work was evident after seeing him snack on pieces of fruit and hot dogs meant for the bears. In fact, I’m not convinced he’s not part bear himself.
I think it’s safe to say that this visit was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Thank you to the entire WSU Bear Facility team for allowing me to be a member of your village for those three days.
