We are thrilled to announce the winner of the 2025 “Inspired by Sable Island” award! May Engelhardt, a third-year Biology student at Dalhousie University, submitted a proposal titled “Sandbar Scat Survey: Invertebrate Visitors to Horse and Seal Feces on Sable Island”. The Review Committee was very impressed with the originality, thorough research and preparation, and understanding of the importance of Sable Island and the challenges it faces. This award, administered in partnership with Parks Canada, grants a deserving post-secondary student $500 and a day trip to Sable Island National Park Reserve to work on their proposal.
Sandbar Scat Survey: Invertebrate Visitors to Horse and Seal Feces on Sable Island
Proposal Summary
Large populations of wild horses and seals dominate Sable Island – but what macroinvertebrates are involved in processing their waste? I’m May Engelhardt, an undergraduate Biology student in my third year of study at Dalhousie University. Over the past year, I have been heavily involved in insect biology through research projects with Dr. Shelley Adamo at Dalhousie University looking at Manduca sexta behavioural physiology and stress and Choristoneura rosaceana heatwave-affected development. I am intending to pursue a Masters’ degree in Wildlife Biology, and a PhD in similar fields with a goal of science outreach and higher education. I am passionate about insect conservation, and I know that as the climate warms, fragile ecosystems like Sable Island are under stress – it is crucial that we gain as much knowledge as possible about the ecosystem, so that it can be preserved, supported, and learned from.
Understanding which populations of invertebrates use and benefit from horse and seal waste will highlight the role of these mammals in supporting biodiversity under changing environmental conditions in this unique and isolated ecosystem. For my five-hour excursion to Sable Island, I propose surveying invertebrate presence and abundance on horse dung and seal scat. I plan to survey invertebrate types using timed visual quantification and macrophotography and catalogue which insect populations are benefitting from the waste of the large mammals on Sable Island.
While insect surveys and mammalian diet studies through their waste have been conducted, to my knowledge no published accounts exist of insects interacting with horse or seal waste on Sable Island, making this a novel study. In my time on Sable Island, I will be filling out datasheets and taking high-resolution images, which I will share with Parks Canada and Friends of Sable Island researchers when my time on the island is complete for use as a baseline for future studies and a resource for community outreach. I hope this project will contribute not only to my growth as a field biologist, but also to the broader understanding and appreciation of Sable Island’s entomology.
If the weather cooperates, May will be travelling to Sable Island in October 2025. We look forward to sharing her results.
Sable Island has been inspiring people for centuries, and Friends of Sable Island keeps that tradition alive through our education program and by supporting ongoing research on the island and various learning opportunities. This award helps us continue to inspire the hearts and minds of the next generation who will care for Sable Island National Park Reserve.