Aruã Yaym de Castro Ferreira

M.S. Student - Wildlife and Fisheries Biology
Graduate Research Assistant
Forestry and Environmental Conservation Department, Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science

Office:
Phone: 847-961-8973

Email: aruayad@clemson.edu

Educational Background

B.S. Forestry - Ecosystem Restoration and Management
University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point 2022

Profile

Aruã Yaym was born and raised in Brazil near the Pantanal, the largest contiguous freshwater wetland in the world. At the age of 3, he first visited his godfather’s lodge and cattle ranch in the Northern Pantanal. From then on, it became a tradition to visit the breath-taking landscapes of the Pantanal during school breaks and holidays to assist with cattle ranching, and tours at the lodge. By the age of 15, he had developed a burning passion for the Pantanal, and its traditions. Giving rise to his ultimate career goal, to become a wetland ecologist conducting research that supports local communities, conservation, sustainable development, and sustainable management in the Pantanal. By the time he turned 18 years old, he met a group of senior ecology scientists from the US (Alan Haney, Steve Apfelbaum, and John Rogner) while working at his godfather’s lodge. Recognizing Aruã Yaym’s passion for the Pantanal and ecology, they guided him in pursuing his dream to become a wetland ecologist. With their help, he ventured to the U.S in 2018, in pursuit of high-quality education.

In 2022 he received his bachelor’s degree in forestry focused on ecosystem restoration and management from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Throughout his undergraduate career, he engaged in several undergraduate research projects focused on soil science and plant taxonomy, where he gained valuable experience in developing and conducting scientific research. Following his B.S graduation, Aruã Yaym became a field research technician under a PhD student from Mississippi State University, stationed in South Carolina. Where they researched food availability in historic rice field tidal impoundments for dabbling ducks, as well as their diet. Aruã Yaym joined the James C. Kennedy Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation Center as a M.S student and graduate research assistant in the spring of 2024. He is currently working on his thesis entitled “Biotic and Spatial Factors Driving Microplastic Abundance in the Gizzard of Green-winged Teal (Anas c. carolinensis) in Historic Antebellum Rice Fields in South Carolina”. Additionally, Aruã Yaym will utilize a linear mixed effects model to determine whether microplastic concentration and polymer type is affected by landscape-level variables (i.e., location, population density, urbanization) and biological variables (i.e., weight, sex). Aruã Yaym will also compare the performance of the Agilent 8700 Laser Direct Infrared chemical imaging to a light microscope for identifying microplastic types and measuring microplastic concentration.

Finally, apart from research, Aruã Yaym enjoys many activities in the great outdoors such as fishing, kayaking, hunting, birdwatching, and hiking. Alternatively, while indoors he enjoys reading novels and manga, playing RPG video games, Dungeons & Dragons, and watching TV series.