Previous Research

 

·        MAPS Bander: My first research experience was conducted between my sophomore and junior undergraduate years of college, when I was hired by the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) to work as a bird banding intern at the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) field station in Madison, Indiana.  This project was developed to investigate the long-term population viability of birds across North America and to suggest conservation and management protocols.  A typical day involved my walking a mist-net transect ten times at forty-minute intervals, efficiently extracting birds and correctly identifying all species observed via sight or sound; I banded at least half of all birds captured on each net run and assessed their age, size, and breeding status.  These data were subsequently sent to IBP for entry into a database that has been maintained since 1989, at the inception of the MAPS project.  Due to the positive evaluations I received from my supervisor at the end of my first season, I was re-hired by IBP for a second season as an “expert bander” at Shenandoah National Park and Sugar Grove, West Virginia. My two years of participation in the MAPS program required independence and the ability to think on my feet, as my partners and I had no supervisors in the field and were sometimes faced with injured birds, extreme weather, and other situations not addressed in our protocol handbook. We also needed to work closely with the military and the park service for access to some sites, which was important for understanding chain of command in, and communication with, these organizations. I learned a great deal about working in physically challenging conditions and about dividing responsibilities between multiple workers in the field.  When conducting vegetation analyses, protocol called for my partners and I to reach consensus regarding the percent cover, average height, and landscape structure at each site.  Our give-and-take discussions were important for learning how to compromise.  Both the Indiana and Virginia sites had separate groups of study organisms, so I was called upon to learn identification of hundreds of different species in a short period of time.  Additionally, while at Shenandoah, I was part of a team that discovered the first evidence that saw-whet owls (Aegolius acadicus) were breeding in the park.

 

·        Senior Undergraduate Research: For my senior thesis research at Haverford College, I investigated whether the Crum Woods surrounding Swarthmore College were experiencing a decline in diversity or richness as increased urbanization reduced the size of the woods. From 1998-2003, Professor Janet Williams and her ornithology class (of which I was a member in 2003) had conducted weekly transects through the woods. Her modified point counts documented the arrival dates of migratory birds, as well as the diversity and richness of species found within the Crum area.  An analysis of bird demographics among years showed a significant decrease in diversity and richness.  However, the Crum point counts suggested higher diversity and richness than those indicated by Breeding Bird Survey data for the same year in the same region of Pennsylvania, suggesting that the Crum Woods served as a refuge for local avifauna.  For this reason, a local conservation group focused on advising local government and private landowners on issues of land management in the Crum Woods requested a copy of my manuscript for future citation in policy recommendations.  This project was the first opportunity I had to develop my own research questions and to participate in collecting, electronically organizing, and analyzing data.  It also was the first time that a student from my college had pursued an ecologically-oriented senior thesis project or had collaborated with a biology professor from another school; I subsequently was asked to write a manual for Haverford College advising professors and students on how to participate in such a partnership.

 

·        Blackwater NWR Intern: Following my graduation from Haverford College, I was hired as an intern at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland, where I performed a variety of tasks.  Officially, I was one of two forest bird surveyors for the Joint Fire Science Project (JFSP) conducted by a consortium of government agencies.  Because fire is necessary for maintaining the habitat required by the threatened Delmarva fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), managers in the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia area are interested in conducting prescribed burns in national wildlife areas.  However, the effects of burning are not well understood in eastern regions and it is hypothesized that prescribed burns might negatively affect breeding birds, particularly by reducing habitat required protection, nest space, and nutritional resources.  The JFSP project involved two years of pre-burn bird monitoring, followed by a fall burn and two subsequent years of post-burn monitoring. I participated in the second year of pre-treatment monitoring for JFSP, meaning that I walked transects twice a week at eight sites, identifying all birds seen or heard at randomly-selected point count coordinates.  These were done independently, with my partner surveying one half of the plot while I surveyed the other.  During the month of July, we also conducted rigorous vegetation analysis at randomly-selected point count coordinates.  Working in groups of two or three people, we used quadrats and transects to identify vegetation species, conduct DBH measurements of trees within each plot area to ascertain community dominance and successional stage, and measure percent cover. A similar fire science study was being undertaken in marsh habitat, also, and I periodically assisted the marsh bird surveyor in conducting point counts along Blackwater River and at various Chesapeake Bay islands.  While at Blackwater, I also served as a computer technician due to my experience as a webmaster, lab manager, and computer help desk worker at Haverford College.  Additionally, I contributed to Maryland State Bird Atlas surveys of breeding birds (finding the first ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) present at Blackwater NWR during the breeding season), assisted in large-scale pelican- and osprey-banding efforts in the Chesapeake Bay, ground-proofed portions of maps generated by GIS technicians at Blackwater, and did a small amount of radio telemetry with the Delmarva fox squirrels. 

 

·        Masters Student: As a Masters student at the College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, VA), I developed a project that quantifies the effects of human disturbance on Eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) breeding success to test the hypothesis that higher levels of human disturbance lead to lowered reproductive output and diminished chick condition.  Using an existing network of bluebird nest boxes, I measured brood success and chick condition, as well as levels, proximities, and types of human disturbance within the breeding territory.  During data collection, I managed “Team Bluebird” by creating nest box visitation schedules that incorporate several hundred boxes, distributing assignments to myself and two field assistants, and staying in contact with approximately a dozen managers at our different sites in order to coordinate box placement, maintenance, and permission to visit.  We are currently in the analysis stage of this project.  Throughout the duration of the study I have written several grant proposals, with recent awards from the Williamsburg Bird Club and the Charles Center at the College of William and Mary.  I also attended the American Ornithologists’ Union conference this summer in order to discuss my research with others; I plan to present my preliminary results at a conference during the summer of 2005.