By: Aly Andersen

The road to varsity wrestling and a Ph.D. is a bit more unconventional than most for second year eligible Pandas Wrestler, April Martinig.

Martinig has more than just a Ph.D. candidacy to her name; she is also a varsity wrestler for the Pandas.

While most athletes are striving for their bachelor and master degrees in more mainstream fields, such as kinesiology or arts, Martinig focuses her Ph.D. studies in ecology on red squirrels.

Originally pursuing a career as a doctor, Martinig eventually found her way to ecology after a professor showed the introductory ecology class a video during her undergrad.

After further exploring her studies in ecology, it became clear that medical school was not the path she wanted to take.

“I found my calling with research” said Martinig. “Ecology is this wonderful mix of exploring nature, and has a lot of statistics, which I enjoy. It’s a great combination for me.”

From working with big horn sheep in Kananaskis to primates in Ghana and wildlife tunnels in Quebec during her Masters, Martinig has journeyed far for her studies.

Now, she has found her way to the University of Alberta to work under Stan Boutin, who she says is one of the best in his field.

Under Boutin, there were four types of animals Martinig could have studied: Lynx, caribou, snowshoe hares, or red squirrels. Ultimately, she decided on red squirrels.

“I know lots of people find lynx or caribou very charismatic fauna. But, red squirrels are these hidden gems. Everyone has personal experience with squirrels, especially when they decide that your backyard is now theirs. But, the thing that always gets me as a squirreller - yes, that’s the unofficial official term - is that we often do not realize that their lives are rife with danger.”

Specifically, Martinig studies juvenile red squirrels. Her work “highlights the complex, permanent, and life changing decisions squirrels have to make as ‘teenagers’. Movement is the most crucial component of species persistence, and squirrels prove that this decision is not an easy one.”

Her focus is on studying why certain individuals move away from home, who dies during this journey, and what predicts their success in this new place afterwards, which she says mimics humans in the fact that, like us, they too cannot stay at home forever.

“Who you are is really where the rubber hits the road. If you are more bold and willing to take risks, you just might be willing to make that cross-country journey, or if you are a squirrel, run five kilometres through the boreal forest in the Yukon.”

She says that more often than not red squirrels die because of their mothers neglect. Like all parents, red squirrels also play favourites.

Although a latecomer to the varsity scene, Martinig has plenty of experience in the sporting world. Track and field, cross country, and football can be found on her resume.

In grade ten, she found wrestling. Her willingness to try something new evolved into a pure love for the sport and everything that came along with it.

If you aren’t familiar with wrestling, you might think of it as a masculine sport. However, Martinig has helped redefine the status quo in her wrestling communities. She was able to be a role model to the younger female athletes when she was named co-captain of her high school team; a role she continues to play with the younger women on the Pandas team.

“It’s not just about being part of the team. As a woman in wrestling it’s important to show other young women that they can step up because it is sometimes a boy’s sport, or it’s viewed that way.”

After graduating high school early, Martinig had to put sports on hold after suffering an injury hiking in Bolivia.

Solo hikes often present with their own challenges. But, there was no way of knowing that the day hike would cause her to take a hard fall, resulting in both a broken wrist and ankle and forcing her to navigate down the mountain alone over a period of three days.

“Those injuries did not heal well because I was hiking around on them and didn’t get proper treatment afterwards. I had pinched nerves in my wrist and ankle. It took years just to be able to do a push up.”

Now healed and ready to compete again, Martinig set out on a new journey, balancing both a heavy varsity training schedule and pursuing her Ph. D.

This may seem like a daunting task, but for Martinig, these two opposing activities just happen to balance each other out.

Wrestling has become a release that allows Martinig to successfully do her work. She believes that “one without the other wouldn’t work.” Even going as far to say that wrestling helps her train to chase squirrels through the rough terrain of the Yukon wilderness.

Looking ahead, Martinig hopes to compete at the U SPORTS Championships in St. Catharines, Ontario, while also successfully completing her Ph.D. before pursuing further opportunities around the globe, broadening her expertise.

Martinig’s first chapter from her thesis, “The new kid on the block: Immigrant males win big whereas females pay fitness cost after dispersal,” is published in Ecology Letters (doi: 10.1111/ELE.13436).