COMPETING RISK OF DEER & THE TURNER LAB
We recently wrapped up a project in collaboration with The Turner Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the research lab of Dr. Wendy C. Turner. The lab is focused on wildlife ecology research, and this specific project is centered on the competing risks that deer face concerning their mortality. Working closely with Dr. Alison C. Ketz and Dr. Marie Gilbertson, we initially created three illustrations to accompany their research on the three stages of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) — a transmittable disease attacking the brain and nervous system in deer. The early stage of CWD is low prevalence, and concentrated in males and through direct male contact (e.g., bucks fighting). In the intermediate stage prevalence becomes a bit higher, and starts showing up in females; especially through contact with males (e.g., reproduction). Finally, in the later stage, CWD is still most prevalent in yearling males, it is now spread to the immediate deer population, including younger offspring, and exists in the environment, even specific environments (e.g., mineral lick, clay soils, creeks, etc) where deer can contract it.
Our art team at SPC assisted this research project by providing attention grabbing illustrations depicting deer in each stage of of CWD. We captured the central information of the study and offered it in visual form to help engage readers and fellow scholars as they engage with the scholarship being produced by The Turner Lab. We also created one final illustration depicting all the competing risks deer face for their mortality: disease, predation, anthropogenic threats, and senescence.
Over the past year we have teamed up with several scholars to provide engaging, compelling, and even provocative illustrations to accompany their research for articles, blogs, or their websites. These illustrations are eye-catching, and they draw people’s attention to the work in a way plain text cannot. If you’d like to see your research turned into illustrations or full comics, or would like a series of illustrations to use for an article or blog, please feel free to reach out to us at travis@sequentialpotential.com
