Spider Woman

ARACHNID EXPERT ENGAGES STUDENTS USING CREEPY CRAWLERS

Tucked away in one of the dark recesses of the Biology Building on Georgia Southern University’s campus, is an office filled with dozens of containers holding live tarantulas, scorpions and other arachnids. The office belongs to Michelle Tremblay, the non-majors biology laboratory supervisor, who is also the University’s expert on spiders. Her fascination with these mysterious creatures began when she was a little girl growing up in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

“I think they are the coolest things on earth. When I was just a small girl, knee-high to a grasshopper, I started picking up insects and spiders and keeping them in jars and shoeboxes,” she said. “My parents always encouraged my love of science and bought me nature books and a microscope.”

While spiders are her passion, Tremblay’s main job is overseeing the lab activities for the roughly 4,500 students enrolled in general and environmental biology laboratory every year. She writes the lab curriculum, trains and mentors 20-plus graduate teaching assistants, and supervises a lab technician. It is her responsibility to ensure the non-majors lab program offers a unique and informative experience for the 80 lab sessions every week. For many students, this may be the only science lab they take at Georgia Southern.

“Unfortunately, students only come to see me when there is a problem,” she said. When they do walk into her office, one question she hears a lot is “but you’re a girl, why do you like spiders?” She has hundreds of creatures – black and brown widow spiders, tarantulas, scorpions and whip scorpions. “You’d be amazed at the number of students that come back with their friends and say, ‘I heard about your spiders, can I see them too?’”

With a master’s degree in insect pest management from Simon Fraser University, Tremblay doesn’t just raise these creatures for fun; she incorporates the specimens into numerous University activities. Along with insect ecologist Ed Mondor, Ph.D., she received a grant to develop “live exhibits” of insects, spiders and other arthropods. These organisms are used for non-major laboratories, entomology courses and open house events. She also routinely assists graduate students and faculty with their spider-related research. Currently, she performs brown widow spider identifications for a population genetics study by biology professor Scott Harrison. Tremblay is also the go-to person when someone calls the biology department looking for information about spiders. “We get calls from local residents all the time asking ‘what kind of spider is this? Is it dangerous?’

“I get many calls, especially in the fall when male spiders are wandering around looking for females,” she noted. “The biggest challenge I have is convincing people not to kill them. As they help control pest insects, they really are our eight-legged friends.”

– Sandra Bennett