CURRENTLY I am a Wildlife Ecology MS student in the Zuckerberg Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My work involves the construction of integrative species distribution models using community science data—eBird, Breeding Bird Survey, Breeding Bird Atlases—to forecast potential range shifts in upper Great Lakes avian populations under climate change; in addition, we will assess the efficacy of conserved areas in the region to serve as refugia birds and provide tailored conservation recommendations to a suite of state, federal, and private partners. A North American Banding Council-certified songbird banding trainer, I’m also Editor for the organization’s newsletter, Avise.
RESEARCH INTERESTS INCLUDE avian and global change ecology with a focus on movement, behavioral and cognitive plasticity, phenological mismatching, and niche partitioning, to name a few; I’m particularly intrigued by these topics through the lens of disjunct and trailing end populations, irruptive species, boreal communities, the cardueline finches, and, historically understudied, female birds. After five years in the field, my priorities as an ecologist are largely centered on the applicability of research for managers and the accessibility of scientific language for the general public. As a trained specimen preparator, I believe in the necessity of the use, maintenance, and growth of ornithological collections to supplement studies on wild birds.
PAST EXPERIENCES include two years at the University of North Carolina Wilmington in the integrative evolutionary ecology lab of Dr. Raymond Danner investigating the thermal biology and associated oology of Least Terns; my undergraduate research was recognized by Audubon NC and the Wilson Ornithological Society (2019), and is in-prep for journal submission. As a field ornithologist, I’ve banded over 150 species across the USA with orgs such as Wild Bird Research Group, Intermountain Bird Observatory, Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory, and the University of Montana Bird Ecology Lab. I’ve spent many joyful years as an environmental educator, as well as in other mentorship and interpretive roles within and beyond ecology.
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***All banding is conducted under a federally authorized permit issued by the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory***