Dna Profiling of Captive Roseate Spoonbill (Ajaia Ajaja) Populations As a Mechanism of Determining Lineage in Colonial Nesting Birds. Page: ii

                                
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I greatly appreciate the teaching, leadership and especially the friendship of my
major professor Dr. Robert C. Benjamin. Many of the skills I learned have applications
beyond the laboratory environment and I feel fortunate to have gained their utility. I
would like to thank Dr. Arthur Eisenberg, Dr. John Knesek, Dr. Gerard O'Donovan and
Dr. Robert Pirtle for serving as committee members and for their considerable time and
efforts invested in my education. Special thanks to Dr. Arthur Eisenberg and his
laboratory personnel for assisting with my allelic analyses. Thank you to Dr. Miguel
Castro and his employees at Bio-Synthesis, Inc. for providing many of the necessary
materials needed to complete my research. Many thanks to Chris Brown who initiated
this project, shared his knowledge freely, and facilitated the collection of Spoonbill blood
samples whenever needed. I would also like to thank the Dallas (Texas), Fort Worth
(Texas), and Sedgwick County (Kansas) zoos and the personnel who provided the
Spoonbill blood samples and data needed for this study. Thank you to Dr. Thomas
Beitinger for his guidance on the use of proper statistical analyses on these data.
Most of all I would like to thank my entire family who supported me in every way
needed in order for me to achieve this goal. My deepest appreciation goes to my wife
Cami and son Matthew who encouraged me daily and whose patience and support for me
never failed.