| Where are my former students? |
Students, associates, and research projects
Use of state wildlife surveys to assess benefits of Farm Bill programs
Project description: Project initiated in summer of 2008. Drew Tyre and I co-support Tim Hiller, who is using rural mailcarrier surveys from Nebraska to investigate the role that Farm Bill programs play to support wildlife habitat. This research is supported by the national NRCS CEAP program.
Postdoctoral associate: Dr. Tim Hiller
Using stable isotopes to assess productivity and fidelity of grassland birds on National Park sites
Project description: Field work initiated in spring of 2008. I co-advise a graduate student, Sarah Rehme, with Dr. Craig Allen. Sarah is investigating productivity on 3 National Park sites in the Great Plains, and we are hoping to correlate variability of isotopic signatures with avian productivity on the sites. The research is conducted in collaboration with Keith Hobson (Environment Canada), USGS, and NPS. More on project here.
Graduate student (MS): Sarah Rehme
Status and reproductive ecology of the Long-billed Curlew in Nebraska
Project description: This project is based out of Iowa State University, directed by Dr. Steve Dinsmore. Joel Jorgensen (NGPC) and I are co-PI's on th project, funded by a State Wildlife Grant. Cory is investigating the breeding biology and distribution of curlews--using a series of surveys and radio-telemetry. The project is based at Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge in western NE. USGS photo by A. Wilson.
Graduate students: Cory Gregory (MS, Iowa State University)
Painted turtle clutch size and population dynamics
Project description: This is my personal research project, at present. I have worked with a unique population of painted turtles since 2005 in Ogallala, NE. One pond is a very dense population, with clutch sizes half of the 'normal' size. A string of undergraduate students have helped me investigate the diet, population size, clutch size, movement, and stress hormone levels in this turtle population. This research is funded through undergraduate research funds, and was supported in 2006-2008 by an NSF-funded undergraduate research grant through the Department of Mathematics at the University of Nebraska--with focus on theoretical ecology. Dr. David Logan, a UNL faculty member in Math, is a field compatriot and colleague on this research.
Undergraduate students: Ken Shum (06-08), Scott Harter (06), Lindsey Pachacek (06), Ed Rubin (06)
Graduate students: Tracy Patten (supervised project in 06), Amy Parrott (Math: 07)
Wintering sandhill cranes in Mexico
Project description: Field work initiated in fall of 2007. I co-advise a graduate student, Ingrid Barcelo, with Dr. Felipe Chavez-Ramirez of the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust in Nebraska. Ingrid is investigating the portion of the sandhill cranes' wintering grounds in northern Mexico. The habitat is very dry and relatively little is known regarding the cranes' diet, activities, and fidelity to this wintering area. The research is conducted in collaboration with local agencies and CIBNOR in Mexico.
Graduate student (PhD): Ingrid Barcelo
Using stable isotopes to study animal movements
Project description: Project initiated in fall of 2006. Dr. Drew Tyre and I co-sponsor a postdoc, Dr. Viviane Henaux. She is investigating the use of stable isotopes to determine prior locations of snow geese collected after cholera outbreaks. Funding for this project is from the UNL Population Ecology Program of Excellence and the UNL Research Council. Collaborators include Keith Hobson (Environment Canada), Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, USFWS, and several state agencies (and Ducks Unlimited) that provide snow goose samples from the wintering grounds.
Postdoc: Dr. Viviane Henaux
Effects of grazing on grassland bird distribution and fledgling dispersal in the Sandhills of Nebraska
Project description: Project initiated in summer of 2006. I am co-advising a PhD student, Matt Giovanni, with Dr. Walter Schacht in UNL's Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. We are using surveys, nest monitoring, and radio-telemetry to assess the relationship between vegetation structure, water resources, and bird community structure. We are also providing the first data on fledgling dispersal of western meadowlarks in a large, contiguous grassland system. Photo at right (by Scott Groepper) shows a bull snake taking a meadowlark nestling from a nest monitored by our digital video recording system. Funding for this project is from the Burlington Northern Endowment.
Graduate student (PhD): Matt Giovanni
Undergraduate students: Scott Groepper, Lars Anderson, Lauren Thacker-Lynn
Duck recruitment in the Sandhills of Nebraska
Project description: Pilot seasons initiated in summer of 2005 and 2006. Ducks have been anecdotally reported to nest in "odd" upland habitat in the Sandhills-far from any wetland area. This project is jointly run by Mark Vrtiska (NGPC), Scott Stephens (DU), Johann Walker (DU), and Larkin Powell (UNL). We are using decoy traps to radio-mark hen mallards and follow them to their nest sites. We'll be monitoring productivity and modeling nest survival as a function of landscape variables. The project should provide data that will help reinforce the importance of water on the landscape in the Sandhills. Funding for this project is from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Ducks Unlimited, and the Sandhills Task Force. Zach Cunningham, MS student, started in Spring 2007, and will be continuing trapping ducks as well as conducting brood surveys in the Sandhills. Zach was the crew leader for the 2 pilot field seasons, as well. See more information at the special DU project website! Photo at right is from DU.
Graduate student (MS): Zach Cunningham
Conservation status of the Blue-headed Quail-dove (Starnoenas cyanocephala) in the Gran Humedal del Norte de Ciego de Ávila reserve of Cuba
Project description: Project initiated in fall of 2005, under the direction of Felipe Chavez-Ramirez, of the Platte River Whooping Crane Trust. The study consists of nest searching/monitoring, point count surveys and occupancy modeling, and diet studies to learn more about the Blue-headed Quail-dove (endangered species), as well as other quail-doves at the reserve. One goal of the project is to develop a monitoring scheme for the Quail-dove that can be used in the future by reserve workers in Cuba. The Blue-headed Quail-dove is a secretive species, with very low detection rates--so, not much is known about its distribution or biology. Karen Leavelle has tackled the daunting task of getting into Cuba for research.
Graduate student (MS): Karen Leavelle
Effects of grassland management on ring-necked pheasant and greater prairie-chicken habitat selection and productivity
Project description: Project initiated in summer of 2005, with co-PIs Scott Taylor and Jeff Lusk (NGPC) and Drew Tyre (UNL). The pheasant project was located in Stanton County, Nebraska--an area where NGPC had been successful in conducting mid-contract management with landowners with land in CRP. We radio-marked pheasant hens, monitored subsequent nests, and determined locations of nests, broods, and hens during April to August. The project assessed the importance of the management regime, and will provide managers with information which could be quite useful for future modifications to CRP requirements and/or pheasant management in the Midwest. Funding and support for this project is from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Pheasants Forever. We have just recently begun a follow-up project in southeastern Nebraska (Johnson County) with prairie chickens. We are assessing the importance of CRP to this population, using similar methods to the pheasant project.
Graduate student (PhD): Ty Matthews
Changes in small mammal and avian communities following red cedar removal in the Niobrara Valley Preserve
Project description: Project initiated in summer of 2004. The incredible diversity of the Niobrara River Valley in northern Nebraska makes this a really interesting place to work. Eastern red cedars are being removed by the Nature Conservancy in an attempt to restore the oak savannah system. The removal of this native, but invasive, tree species will certainly affect the community of birds using the sites; in addition, it may negatively affect distributions of a state sensitive rodent species--Bailey's eastern woodrat. We are conducting mist netting and point counts to monitor the avian community. In addition, we are marking small mammals with PIT tags in a robust-design mark-recapture study. The project should provide data that will help land managers make effective restoration decisions. Funding for this project is from the National Park Service and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, with in-kind contributions from The Nature Conservancy.
Graduate student (MS): January Jones
Undergraduate student: Branden O'Hare
Peregrine falcon surveys on the Washington coast
Project description: My participation, working with data analysis, on this project began in 2002. My grad-school friend and colleague from Iowa State, Dan Varland, has been banding peregrine falcons along beaches on the Washington coast since 1995. His data set from surveys of re-sighted and recaptured birds provides survival rates of a unique population of falcons using coastal beach habitat--mostly in the winter. Photo of banded peregrine eating a sanderling on a beach by Dan Varland at right.
Landscape effects on bird nest predation, productivity, and movement in Nebraska's Rainwater Basin
Project description: In summer 2002, we began field work in the Rainwater Basins of south-central Nebraska. The isolated wetlands of the region offer an excellent place to study metapopulation dynamics. We began by studying what landscape features attract mammalian predators to these wetlands, and we hope to add a songbird component as other funding becomes available. In essence, we hope to study both mammal and bird movement dynamics among wetlands in several complexes. The project should provide data that will help land managers make habitat restoration decisions in the region. Funding for this project is from the University of Nebraska, with in-kind contributions from US Fish and Wildlife Service and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Graduate student (MS): Tina Kocer (MS 2004), Max Post van der Burg (MS 2005)
Undergraduate student: Zach Cunningham, Kelsi Niederklein
Status: Project completed, currently submitting manuscripts for publication.
Grazing regimes and bird communities in Nebraska's Sandhills
Project description: In summer 2002, we began field work in Cherry County, Nebraska. We are conducting transect surveys and monitoring productivity on plots that are grazed season-long, medium-length (approx. 1 month), and short-term (2-10 days). The USFWS has been encouraging ranchers in this region to use the short-term grazing regime, and we will be determining if this regime is the sustainable for grassland birds in the uplands of the Sandhills. This project is funded by the Sandhills Task Force, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, USDA Sustainable Ag. Research and Education, and the Sampson Endowment.
Graduate student (MS): Silka Finkbeiner
Undergraduate student: Kent Fricke
Status: Project completed, currently submitting manuscripts for publication.
Use of managed and mature hardwood stands by wood thrushes in the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana
Project description:
Beginning in summer 2003 and continuing through 2005, I am
collaborating with Dr. David Krementz at the University of Arkansas on a
wood thrush research project. Our
objectives will be to investigate how birds respond to intensive forest
management over the life cycle of a clear-cut.
We will study this cycle by following a series of hardwood
clear-cuts in the Atchafalaya Basin of south central Louisiana. We will
use one migratory bird to focus on, the wood thrush (Hylocichla
mustelina), and we will monitor 3 aspects of how these birds respond
to clear-cuts: 1) how do individuals relate spatially to clear-cuts –
what are their movement patterns in and around such cuts; 2) how do
survival rates and reproductive effort of individuals using clear-cuts
vary with time since being cut, and 3) what proportion of individuals
present in a clear-cut stand are being detected using standard bird
surveys.
Graduate student: Sarah Coulter (MS 2005, at University of Arkansas under direction of Dr. David Krementz, PI)
Status: Project completed. Currently submitting manuscripts for publication.
Natal dispersal of wood thrushes
Project description: During summer 2001, I worked with several undergraduate students at the University of Dubuque to monitor the movements of juvenile wood thrushes after hatching. Natal dispersal is quite important to population modeling and conservation concerns. However, very little data is available on juvenile dispersal distances and survival during this time period. This study was funded by the Iowa College Foundation and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Dr. David Shealer from Loras College in Dubuque, IA helped us by conducting analyses on DNA from blood samples to sex our fledglings.
Undergraduate students: Jason Hass, Lara Scott, Abby Garner (University of Dubuque) and Justin Streit (Northland College)
Status: PROJECT COMPLETED
Nuisance geese on Georgia golf courses
Project description: I am continuing my postdoctoral research in Georgia, collaborating with the Georgia DNR. Golf courses are surveyed yearly to estimate the population levels and nuisance problems. Undergraduate students at the University of Dubuque constructed GIS maps to show the explosion of nuisance problems across Georgia and proximity to landscape features such as large reservoirs.
Undergraduate student: Natalie Canier, Brenda Sullivan-Gomer (University of Dubuque)
Status: PROJECT COMPLETED
Peregrine falcon survival, dispersal, and habitat use following a reintroduction
Project description: The University of Dubuque worked with Lowell Washburn of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, on the largest peregrine falcon reintroduction in North America to date. The hack site in Dubuque, Iowa was monitored to determine survival and dispersal rates. Aerial radio telemetry, funded by a faculty grant from the Iowa College Foundation and the Fish and Wildlife Service was used to determine habitat use of the juveniles during the post-dispersal period. During the 2000 field season, we deployed time-delayed radio transmitters to determine locations of returning 1-year-old juveniles in the Upper Mississippi River valley.
Undergraduate students: Irene Barry, Dan Calvert, Jay Robertson, Dawn Reding, Ben Horstmann (University of Dubuque)
PROJECT COMPLETED
