By Barbara Lockard
A 2014 Ada High School graduate recently returned to the high school to teach current students about a near-extinct species and even allowed them to “babysit” some eggs.
Ada alum Justin England is a fisheries technician employed by Midwest Biodiversity Institute, based in Columbus, Ohio. On a typical day he catches, weighs, measures and collects data on Ohio’s fish. “We monitor. We’re there to collect data,” said England.
England holds two associate degrees; one in agribusiness management from University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) and another in fisheries resource management from southeast Ohio’s Hocking College.
Since he has an avid interest in amphibians, he became fascinated with the axolotl, a member of the Ambystoma family (mostly large, robust salamanders) that has taken an evolutionary course different from the run-of-the-mill salamander. Axolotls have only been found in two lakes in Mexico. According to England, they have amazing regenerative powers and have many similarities to humans, which makes them valuable for medical research.
“Imagine if humans could regenerate a limb or even part of their brains,” he added. He feels that the axolotl could possibly be a key to the cure for cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Unfortunately, although they are being raised successfully in captivity, the axolotl are nearing extinction in their natural habitat.
“I managed to find two males, one that was in very bad shape at a pet shop,” England said. He now has 18 adults and 700-800 juveniles and sells some as pets.
The endearing axolotl is a sought-after pet as it’s friendly and, well…cute. According to England It takes a 20-gallon aquarium for one with an additional 10 gallons for each added specimen.
“About 10 inches is the maximum length, although I have a female that is nearly 14” long,” he added.
He is angered that these valuable creatures have been nearly wiped out by wastewater and other pollutants and few have been found in Mexico since 2017. England’s research indicates there were about 6,000 axolotls per acre prior to 2017. There was even a group of nuns who worked for years breeding axolotls and releasing them back into the wild. He feels that the Mexican government didn’t care until the axolotls actually became endangered.
Since January, England has been working with Christine Bowden’s science classes at the high school. He left “Chandler,” an adult axolotl, along with eggs, in the care of the classes for a few weeks. When he returned on February 5, he also did a presentation on fish that are native to Hardin County.
“Hardin County has some really beautiful fish, like the Rainbow Darter and Northern Sunfish,” he added.
Bowden said in an email that England did an excellent job with her students. “Axolotls have amazing regeneration capabilities so they are studied in Biology in the hopes of finding ways for humans to grow back organs and tissues the way that this creature can. I also thought it was a great opportunity for students to see a different type of career that they may not have known existed.”
England became fascinated with fish and amphibians when his grandfather Bob took him fishing as a child. “Now I fish with electric current, but only as part of my job,” he added. He emphasizes that we must be concerned with the quality of our water in order to maintain and expand Ohio’s fish population.
“Ohio is number 46 in the U.S. when it comes to water quality, yet Columbus has the best wastewater treatment plants in the country. I am going around speaking about water quality to inform everyone how important this is.”
