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Photo by Jim Craven SOU instructor and researcher Leslee Parr is working to save endangered manatees as part of a global network of scientists committed to halting the animals' decline. Manatee has long-distance help SOU's Parr wins third grant for her efforts to save species By JOHN DARLING ASHLAND -- There's not a manatee within 3,000 miles of her, but Southern Oregon University teacher Leslee Parr is getting noticed for her genetic research to help save the endangered sea mammals. Parr, a human anatomy and physiology instructor, recently received a grant of $4,000, her third from singer Jimmy Buffett's Save the Manatee Club, to map the manatee's evolutionary history and rate of genetic variation. Her previous grants were for $7,000 each. Determining the rate of gene variation is critical to creating a management plan for the animals, Parr said, as it reveals the continuing health of the species. Working with Steve Fain at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Parr is using a technique that allows her to replicate billions of copies of a segment of genes needed for research. Her grants are being used to pioneer more techniques to make genetic studies more efficient and cost-effective. Fain inspired her work in the manatee field when he told her the forensics lab was handling criminal cases involving the animal and needed a genetic database to do the job. Photo by Leslee Parr Manatees live in tropical waters and grow to be as large as 11 feet long. Manatees, which Parr said "look like big, smiling potatoes with flippers," grow to 11 feet in length and can weigh up to 3,500 pounds. They are found in river mouths and bays in Florida, the Caribbean, the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa. The animals are on the endangered species list and have no natural predators. The Manatee Club, co-founded in 1981 by U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and Buffett, was formed to involve the public in efforts to save the animals. Buffett and his fans devote money to rescuing and rehabilitating Florida manatees, Parr said, and the club uses what's left for research such as hers. Studies show a lack of gene variation among manatees, which indicates their numbers have become so low they are inbreeding, Parr said. Inbreeding makes species susceptible to reduced fertility, disease and high infant mortality, she added. Although they can live in captivity, they aren't allowed to breed there because it will worsen the inbreeding. Parr's work has been focused on the West Indian manatees living in Florida and Puerto Rico. The latest grant subsidizes study of West African and Amazonian species and Parr receives regular study shipments of blood, bone and tissue samples manatee scientists in the field. "Manatees are one of the most endangered species in the world and they are protected in all areas where they are found," Parr said. "They're endangered mostly because human activity has degraded their habitats. In Florida only 3,000 survive and 95 percent of them have scars from motorboat propellers, most of them (hit) more than once." Parr belongs to a global group of scientists who communicate daily via the Internet. Last year, she addressed the world Marine Mammal Conference in Monaco and is slated to deliver papers on manatees this year at conferences in Denmark and Hawaii. The grant-winning process has led Parr to meet Buffett and turned her into a "parrothead," the nickname for Buffett's tropical-loving fans. Parr, 42, was raised in eastern Washington and taught biology at North Medford High School and Scenic Middle School, Central Point. An accomplished athlete, she coached track at SOU, ran many marathons and super-marathons and, following a serious cycling accident, went on to win her age group in the 1991 World Championship Duathalon in Palm Springs, Calif. Why does Parr stay in the Rogue Valley, where the manatees are not? "I love it here and a genetic scientist can do research anywhere as long as she can get the DNA sent to her. Best of all, I get to travel where the manatees are, which all happen to be sunny, warm and wonderful places." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA