CLEVELAND, Miss. — Delta State University has secured funding for a bald eagle conservation project that will provide hands-on research opportunities for students and environmental education for local schools.
The initiative, developed by Nina Baghai-Riding, professor of environmental science and biology, will combine habitat assessments, environmental testing and community partnerships to support bald eagle conservation in the Mississippi Delta.
The project, titled “Conservation, Education, and Mitigation of Bald Eagle Habitat,” was developed after Adam Johnson, environmental division director for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service encouraged Baghai-Riding to submit a proposal. The proposal was approved and funded, with additional support secured through an MDOT award in early October.
The initiative comes as highway widening projects along Interstate 55 in DeSoto County and another Mississippi highway affect bald eagle nests, requiring their relocation.
Students enrolled in Materials and Methods in Environmental Science and Ornithology will survey potential eagle habitats at Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge, Bear Pen Park and the former Delta State golf course. Their research will include evaluating water quality, identifying potential nesting sites and assessing food sources.
Students also will use enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or ELISA, test kits to screen local plants for environmental contaminants, including atrazine and glyphosate.
The university’s Wildlife Society will host guest lecturers who will discuss bald eagle food webs, pollution and emerging threats to eagle habitats. The project also will support coursework in wildlife management, ecology, plant systematics, dendrology, environmental regulations and biotechnology.
Community outreach is another component of the initiative. Baghai-Riding is working with educators at Cleveland Central and Hayes Cooper Center to develop hands-on environmental projects for kindergarten through 12th grade students that align with Mississippi State Standards.
Other partners include the Mississippi Delta Nature and Learning Center in Greenville, private landowners and professional ornithologists.
Mississippi is home to resident and wintering bald eagle populations. Although much of the Mississippi Delta’s bottomland hardwood forest has been lost, bald eagles have made a regional comeback and are frequently found near rivers, backwaters, catfish farms and agricultural fields.
The birds continue to face threats from vehicle collisions, lead poisoning, pesticide exposure and habitat fragmentation.
Ulgonda Dunlevy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Migratory Bird Division informed Baghai-Riding that Delta State will be included in future collaborative projects, creating additional opportunities for the university to contribute to regional conservation efforts.
