Scientists know that the best-laid plans can change in an instant.
When Pacific University Associate Professor of Biology Bonnie Bolkan received a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research in Uganda, she planned to sequence and study DNA in lions. However, when she arrived at Queen Elizabeth National Park in July 2025, her work pivoted to a greater need — studying DNA in the park’s natural water sources to combat the spread of disease.
For six months, Bolkan worked with researchers in the remote park, located along Uganda’s western border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, collecting water samples, processing wildlife blood samples, and amplifying, or copying, the DNA for study. From those samples, the lab could identify the presence of zoonotic diseases, which can be transmitted from animals to humans.
The work is critical due to a rise in anthrax infections in both humans and animals in Uganda. A naturally occurring bacterial infection, anthrax has been identified by the Uganda National Institute of Public Health as a growing public health concern. The country experienced 39 human anthrax outbreaks between 2017 and 2024, resulting in over 1,100 cases of the disease and 35 deaths. Just one human case of anthrax is enough to be considered an outbreak.
While there are approved tests to determine whether a human has anthrax, Bolkan said, it’s not known how effective those tests are on wildlife. Part of her work was to try to determine that effectiveness.
“They were given a number of the kits, and I helped them run through some of the protocols to compare it to molecular genetic testing for anthrax,” said Bolkan, who received her PhD in genetics from Cornell University in 2011. “Can you do these things in the field? We set up the test to figure out how useful they really are with animals.”
Bolkan taught lab workers proper techniques of processing and analysis, and also explained the science behind the work, following much of the same process she teaches students in her molecular genetics lab at Pacific.
“I did a lot of lectures on different topics with whoever was in the lab,” she said. “We talked about the science behind what we’re doing and the reasoning behind the procedures we were doing, and then getting them some more hands-on learning.”
The U.S. State Department has invested in several scientific labs across Uganda to study and combat zoonotic diseases like anthrax, including the one at Queen Elizabeth National Park. With the park’s remote location, the lab allows scientists to conduct studies without having to travel eight hours to the capital city of Kampala.
