A little bit about me
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I grew up on a lake in rural Wisconsin and spent my childhood catching frogs, watching birds, and planting flowers. I continued to explore this love of the natural world during my studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where I earned B.S. degrees in Zoology, Biological Aspects of Conservation, and Scandinavian Studies. During this time, I also participated in Semester at Sea through the University of Virginia, and a Tropical Ecology and Conservation study abroad program in Costa Rica. The courses I took during my undergraduate studies exposed me to field work, the basics of ecology, and natural histories of a wide variety of species. They also inspired me to continue pursuing a career as an ecologist.
After graduation, my first field job was working for a graduate student in the University of Wisconsin Department of Entomology who was studying the effects of fire injury of Lodgepole Pine on mortality caused by Mountain Pine Beetles. We spent a month in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem evaluating tree condition, counting entry and exit holes of beetles, and hiking in the backcountry. During this time, I realized how much I loved working in the field, and asking questions about the natural world. Next, I worked on a series of projects in the Pacific Northwest. First, I was a Sea Lion Observer at the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. Sea lions have been traveling up the Columbia River to feed on fish at the base of the dam. My job was to observe foraging behavior of sea lions, identify pinniped species and individuals, and identify species of fish consumed by the sea lions. This project was controversial in nature due to the removal of sea lions from the area, and conflicts in endangered species management. This was my introduction into working for the federal government, inter-organizational collaboration, as well as working with an endangered species on a high profile project. After working with commercial and recreational fisheries for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, I found myself back in Wisconsin working with another endangered and high-profile species. I began working at the International Crane Foundation as a Field Ecology Intern and still haven't quite left. In the last few years I have spent many hours observing cranes, trying to capture cranes, and restoring prairies with prescribed fire. I have also helped collect data for a wide variety of research projects on cranes and the ecosystems on which they depend. After my Field Ecology Internship ended, I stayed and worked as a Database and GIS Intern. In this position, I organized over 100,000 records in a database of Sandhill Crane observations from over twenty years. While this was an extremely tedious process, I now value good data organization and can use these database skills in the future. During my second year at the International Crane Foundation, I was the Field Ecology Intern Manager and trained the new flock of interns. At the same time, I completed a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Science from Oregon State University. I had taught myself how to use ArcGIS while conducting my independent research project on Whooping Crane natal dispersal, and became very interested in spatial ecology. All of these experiences over the last few years have contributed to who I have become and the research I am currently conducting. Spending time outside as a child taught me to notice things around me and ask questions about them, the Mountain Pine Beetle project taught me how to be "field savvy" (in the words of one of my mentors, Jeb Barzen), the sea lion observation project exposed me to collaboration and endangered species management, the work I did at the International Crane Foundation inspired my interest in spatial ecology, and the GIS certificate gave me a stronger tool set to ask spatial ecology questions. My research at Clemson University on non-breeding movements and habitat use of a reintroduced population of endangered Whooping Cranes benefits from the lessons I have learned over the years in these other projects. In the future I plan to build on these experiences and continue investigating how wildlife interact with the environment. |