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With an eye on medical school, Jeffrey Vogel ’07 (Lutherville, Md.) is already displaying an infectious enthusiasm for scientific study. Over the past school year he conducted independent research into breeding a hardier monarch butterfly.
The biology major explored how various factors affect monarch butterflies, the ubiquitous milkweed-eating insect popular with teachers and students for classroom observation. Under the guidance of John Drummond, visiting professor of biology, Vogel conducted tests on the butterfly to gauge its reactions to being raised in the wild and captivity. His goal was to breed durable monarchs who can survive more efficiently in the wild and sustain themselves better in the classroom.
“We’re focusing on a two-fold way of helping the monarchs from a conservation standpoint and an educational standpoint,” he says. “What I want to do is try to figure out the best artificial conditions that you can make for these monarchs when they’re growing. Not only are you rearing the best, strongest monarch butterflies, but when you release them to the wild it might actually have a beneficial effect. It might increase the monarch population.”
He began his study this past fall with four test groups: indoor captives, outdoor captives, indoor wild, and outdoor wild. Vogel and Drummond measured the monarchs’ forewings, hindwings, and mass. They also determined how the butterflies adapted to various conditions.
Vogel’s responsibilities included feeding the butterflies, monitoring them, and compiling data to be analyzed throughout the semester.
Drummond noted the study has yielded some interesting results.
“We did find that captive butterflies are smaller than the butterflies raised outside in the wild,” he says. “Interestingly, wild caterpillars brought indoors were larger and heavier than their wild counterparts based outside.”
The researchers hope to break down the results between males and females. Drummond would like to partner with researchers at University of Kansas who have developed a tagging system to track monarch migratory patterns, which often culminate in cold-weather trips to Mexico City.
Vogel believes the study has helped him develop an appreciation for what lies ahead in the medical field.
“It’s something that I felt was worthwhile just for the experience alone,” he says. “It’s nice to be able to do field work, to go out in the field and collect data instead of just sitting in a lab.”
Drummond says the study is helping Vogel develop problem-solving skills that he’ll need later in his academic career and his professional life.
“The dedication and commitment it takes to see a project through and becoming familiar with statistics software that will be able to give us good results will train him to think more and be more like a scientist,” he says. “All those skills are certainly going to be a plus for him.”
Vogel developed a passion for medicine by spending time with his father, who is a doctor.
“I really wanted to be able to help people the rest of my life,” he says. “It’s a profession where you really have to want to be a part of it. It’s a long road ahead. I chose it. I’m up to it, and I’ve succeeded so far.”
Vogel is a member of Kappa Delta Rho fraternity and leads the Swim to Succeed program for physically and mentally challenged children at the Family YMCA of Easton, Phillipsburg & Vicinity. He is a graduate of The Boys Latin School of Maryland.
Vogel presented his research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research held April 6-8 at University of North Carolina at Asheville. The College sends one of the largest contingents to the conference each year; 40 students were accepted to present their research at this year’s conference.