高中英语教学：Feather Detective

FeatherDetective

ByPamelaTuchscherer

Imaginehavingajobwhereyoucancreateanewscience,savelives,andsolve

murders.That'swhatRoxieLaybourneachievedasafeatherdetective.She

spentfifty-eightyearsattheSmithsonianNationalMuseumofNaturalHistory

solvingbirdmysteries.Bornin1910,RoxieLaybournespentherchildhood

wanderingthroughthefieldsandwoodsofFarmville,NorthCarolina.Shefollowed

anythingthatcrawledorflew.Seeingabird,she1dnotethesizeandcolorandthen

askhergrandmothertoidentifyit.Whenshewastenyearsold,herfriendswanted

tobenursesorteachers.NotRoxie.Shewantedtobeaturkeyvulture.Lyinginthe

grass,she'dwatchthevulturessoarabovethetreesandimagineherselfriding

thethermals.Soonshewasflyingkitesandbuildingmodelairplanesthat

swoopedthroughtheair.A代erhighschoolRoxieattendedMeredithCollegein

NorthCarolina,whereshestudiedscienceandmath.Shewasaseriousstudent,but

showedherindependencebybeingthefirstgirloncampustowearbluejeans.She

alsomowedthegrassandtrappedrabbitstocookinthedorm.Withherloveof

naturalhistory,Roxiespentweekendsstudyingbirdsandanimalsondisplayatthe

NorthCarolinaStateMuseumofNaturalHistory.Intime,acuratorofferedhera

volunteerjobinthetaxidermydepartment.Sheremoveddeadanimals'

skeletons,muscles,andorgans,thenpreservedtheirnaturalappearancebystuffing

themwithcottonandwire.Roxielearnedpatienceasshecarefullysmoothedthe

birds'feathers,sotheylaynaturally.Shelovedworkingwiththestaff.Inherspirit

ofcompetitiveness,shedidn'twanttobebetterthantheywere,shewantedto

makeherselfbetterthanshewas.In1944,RoxiewashiredtoworkintheBird

DivisionattheU.S.NationalMuseuminWashington,D.C.Shepreparedbird

specimenscalledstudyskinsforthecollection.Unlikethelifeliketaxidermymounts,

thesebirdslookedlifeless.YetzRoxiefeltshehadtotakespecialcare.Eachbirdwas

aworkofart,somethingtobetreasured.Afterthebirdswereprepared,

Roxieplacedthemontheirbacks,withtheirwingsfolded,insidethe

collectionroom'scabinetdrawers.Theskins,lookingHkecolorfulburritoswith

identificationtags,assistedcuratorsandresearchersinidentifyingbirdspecies.To

protecttheskinsfrombeingeatenbybugs,Roxieappliedarsenic,atoxicchemical.

Itwasadustyanddangerousjob.Shelefthomeeachmorningdressedinalady'

sproperclothing-adress,hat,andgloves.Butwhenshearrivedatthemuseum,

shechangedintoherjeans,tennisshoes,andalabcoattoprotectherself.Laterin

theeveningshe'dswitchherclothesagainbeforewalkingoutinpublic.AsRoxie

continuedherworkasoneofthefewwomenresearchersatthemuseum,she

developedanin-depthknowledgeofbirdsbyfacingchallengesandconsideringall

possibilities.Shedidn'tfeellikeawomanbreakingthebarriersofsciencebutwas

gratifiedwhenacuratortoldherthattheyneverthoughtofherasawoman,justas

ascientist.OnedayRoxiewasaskedtoidentifyasetofbirdfeathers.Sherealized

thattopinpointthetypeofbirditcamefrom,she'dhavetodiscoveraspecific,

distinguishingcharacteristic.Roxiehaddonesimilarworklearningthefamily

characteristicsofplantstructureswhilestudyingbotanyatGeorgeWashington

University.Withherknowledgeofthemethodologyandknowingthatkeepingan

openmindwasthekeytosuccess,shewasdeterminedtofindafeaturethatwould

tellherthefamilytheseparticularfeathersbelongedto.Tofindthesubtle

differencesinthefamilies'feathers,Roxiecarefullyexaminedthemanddrew

precisepen-and-inklinedrawingsofwhatshesawonindexcards.Whenshefirst

startedlooking,shecalledit“goingfishing/'sinceshewasnztsurewhereto

look.Examiningthedownyportionofthefeatherunderthemicroscope,Roxie

discoveredlittlebranches,calledbarbs.Theseweredividedintoevensmaller

branchescalledbarbules.Lookinglikerowsofsinglecellsorsegments,they

resembledtinybamboostalkswithnodes,orknobs,allalongthestalk.AsRoxie

examineddifferentbirds'feathers,shenoticedthateachspecies'nodeshad

uniqueshapes,liketriangles,rings,orprongs.Similartofingerprints,these

“microstructures“wereoneofthekeysinidentifyingmanygroupsofbirdsfrom

theirfeathers.Roxiebelievedpersistenceovercameobstacles.Onceshespenttwo

weeksmakingmicroscopeslidesofgoose,swan,andduckfeatherstostudythe

differencesbetweenthem.Eventually,Roxiecreatedslidesmadefromdownybarbs

ofknownbirdsinthemuseumcollectiontobeusedasareferencetool.Thenon

October4f1960,Roxie'scareerchanged.Onthatdate,anairplanetookofffrom

Boston'sLoganAirport.Sevensecondsintotheflight,theplane'senginesstruck

aflockofbirds.TheplanecrashedintoBostonHarbor,killingsixty-twopeople.The

CivilAeronauticsBoardinvestigatingtheaccidentwantedtoknowwhattypeof

birdswereinvolved.TheanswerwouldbediscoveredattheSmithsonianNational

MuseumofNaturalHistory.AsRoxieworkedinherlab,shewasaskedbyher

supervisortosolvethequestion.Shebeganbyexaminingtheburntfeather

fragmentsthatarrivedfromBoston.Feathersthathadbeensuckedthroughan

aircraftenginewere"awholenewballgame“forher.Yetzshewasabletodiscover

thatthedamagedfeatherswerefromEuropeanstarlings.Thesebirdsflewinhuge

flocksofhundredstothousands.Thougheachbirdweighedjusttwotothree

ounces,theywereconsidered“featheredbullets“bypilotsbecauseofthedamage

theycausedwhentheyhitaplane.HowdidRoxieidentifytheburntfeather

fragmentsfromtheaccident?Likedetectivework,sheknewshehadtoputpieces

togetherlikeapuzzle.Herfirststepwastolookatthewholepictureofthephysical

evidence.Sheconsideredtheentirefeather;itscolorandpatternaswellaswhere

andwhenitwascollected.Next,shecleanedthechewed-upfeathermaterialby

washingit「kewewashourhairandthendryingitwithahairdryer.A代er

examiningthedownyfeathersforfamily-leveltraits,sherecognizedthespeciesby

acombinationoffeathercharacteristics.Herfinalstepwastomatchthewhole

z

featherfragmentstothemuseum'sstudyskinspecimens.BethSobozRoxies

assistant,said,“Identifyingfeathersispuzzle-solvingatitsmostelegant/1Forover

fortyyears,Roxieidentifiedthousandsofbirdsinvolvedincollisionswithairplanes

fromaroundtheworld.Oneyearshesolvedonethousandbirdstrikecases.Some

featherfragmentswereassmallasbreadcrumbs.Otherswereagreasysmearof

bloodandtissue,commonlycalledsnarge(acombinationofsnotandgarbage).By

identifyingthefeathers'microstructuresinthesamples,shewasabletoconfirm

thebirdspeciesandhelpairportmanagementfocusonpreventingtheseflocks

fromgatheringaroundairports.Overtime,Roxie'sresearchimprovedaviation

safety.Herfindingsassistedengineersinbuildingsaferaircraftbydesigningjet

enginesandwindscreensmoreresilienttobirdstrikes.Italsoledtothecreationof

thefirstlabdedicatedentirelytofeatheridentification.Asanexpertinherfield,

RoxieassistedtheFishandWildlifeDepartmentindiscoveringwhatkilledbirdsof

prey.Inthecaseshecalledthe“PoisonedBirdTrio,“Roxietriedtosolvethe

mysteryofwhathadkilledagreathornedowl.Herexaminationshowedthatthe

owlhadeatenared-tailedhawk.Insidethehawk'sstomach,Roxiefoundamashof

magpiefeathers.ThekeytowhathadkilledtheowlwasRoxie'sdiscoverythatthe

magpiehadeatenbugsthathadbeensprayedwithaninsecticide,atoxicchemical

thatthenalsopoisonedtheowl."WhatIlikeaboutthejob/'saidRoxie,"\syou

learnsomethingneweveryday."RoxiealsohelpedtheDepartmentcatchillegal

huntersorbirdpoachers.OnaVirginiaestate,birdsofpreywerebeingkilledto

protectstockedpheasantsthatpeoplehuntedforsport.Roxieandtheagents

enteredtheestatewithsearchwarrantsandfoundtheHDeathPit"wherethe

poachedbirdshadbeendumpedwiththegarbage.Sortingthroughthereeking

sludgeandoozinggreenslime,Roxieidentifiedfeathersanddecayedskeletonsof

protectedspeciesofhawksandowls.Theestate'semployeeswereconvicted.The

FederalBureauofInvestigationalsorequestedRoxie'ssupporttousefeathersas

traceevidenceincrimesceneinvestigations.Thisnewsciencewascalledforensic

ornithology.SpecialAgentDouglasDeedrickcontactedRoxietoassistinamurder

investigationinKodiak,Alaska.Roxiehelpedcatchthekiller;eventhoughthebody

wasneverfound.Twosmall,dryfeathershadbeendiscoveredonthe

passenger-sidefloorofthesuspect'svan.Afewmonthsa代erthevictim's

disappearance,herdowncoatwasheduponshore.Roxie'sforensicanalysis

matchedtheChineseduckfeathersfrominsidethecoattofeathersfoundinthe

suspect'scar.This,alongwithotherevidence,securedaconviction."Thefeather：

sheoncetoldtheAssociatedPress,“putsyouatthesceneofthecrime."Roxie

neverwroteabookonherfeathersciencebecauseshefeltshe'dneverfinished

learningalltherewastolearn.Shedidfeel,however;thatshe'dbeenallowedto

sharewhatsheknewwithothers.Withherpositiveandencouragingattitude,she

heldbird-skinningclassesinthemuseumtotraingenerationsofyoungnaturalists,

andmentoredmanyyoungfieldbiologists."Theybuildonyourknowledge/1

Roxiereflected."Youstartatthebottomofaladder;andeachstudentgoeshigher

butnevergetstothetop.Butwekeepclimbing/1Today,theSmithsonianFeather

IdentificationLabprocessestenthousandairplanebirdstrikecasesayear.Even

withDNAanalysis,somesamplesarehardtoidentifycorrectly.Forinstance,inone

puzz