Tim Davidson, a first-year Ph.D. student in Portland State’s Department of Environmental Sciences and Resources, has been awarded $60,000 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for continued research of marine pill bugs.
Student to study marine pill bugs
Tim Davidson, a first-year Ph.D. student in Portland State’s Department of Environmental Sciences and Resources, has been awarded $60,000 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for continued research of marine pill bugs.
Davidson hopes to study burrowing and dispersal rates, as well as possible control options for Australasian burrowing isopods in Oregon. Most of the funds will be spent on tuition and research equipment, said Davidson, who spent three years studying the non-native crustacean pill bugs at the University of Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, where he received his master’s degree.
Burrowing isopods build colonies by burrowing into muddy riverbanks, wood, sandstone, and blocks of Styrofoam used to keep docks afloat. Davidson said he plans to run tests to assess the environmental impact of these colonies.
“Each bug builds a burrow and they live in high density. Thousands and thousands of them will live in a very small area,” Davidson said, “I have found chunks of Styrofoam riddled with holes like there had been a shotgun blast.”
Davidson said he believes the isopods, which are native to Australia and New Zealand, came to the West Coast in the hulls of wooden ships around the time of the California Gold Rush.
