***Pardon My Progress -
Site Undergoing Metamorphosis***
My research interests are
broad and encompass a diversity of taxa and ecosystems.
However, many revolve around a central theme in
understanding the impact of human activities, intentional
and unintentional, on species and biotic communities.
Through my research I hope to shed light on solutions to
the negative anthropogenic effects we have on Nature. I
hope to achieve this by adhering to the scientific method,
employing ecological statistics and by developing a better
understanding of species life histories and ecological
communities. However, I also recognize that the majority of
our environmental problems arise due to a conflict of value
systems among cultures, societies, and individuals. To this
end I recognize that science represents only one
perspective in a multi-perspectival world and it alone will
not provide a sustainable solution to the environmental
crises we face. More recently I have employed the
developing field of
Integral Ecology to provide a framework to
address the role that science should play in addressing our
environmental problems, including endangered species
recovery and habitat management.
Current
Research Interests
Impacts of
Herbicides on Endangered
Butterflies
Next to habitat loss and
fragmentation, invasive plant species represent the second
largest threat to several endangered butterfly species in
the Pacific Northwest as well as other regions of the
world. Control of invasive woody plants, forbs, and grasses
has historically focused on the use of mowing, fire, and
biological control to manage invasive plant species.
However, these methods can have severe impacts on species
occupying those systems. For example, fire can kill a large
percentage of larvae and pupa butterfly in the path of the
flames. For this reason land managers and conservation
biologists working with endangered butterflies are unable
to employ these methods at effective invasive weed
management scales for fear of extirpating or severely
impacting local butterfly populations. Increasingly land
managers and conservation biologists have turned to
herbicides as alternative management tool. Many herbicides
have been developed to target specific taxa (e.g. grasses)
while causing little to no visible impact on native
non-target plant species. However, little research has been
conducted to date on the potential impacts, both positive
and negative, of herbicide exposure on butterflies. Through
a combination of greenhouse and field studies I am
investigating the impacts of grass-specific and
broad-spectrum herbicides on butterfly behavior,
morphology, survival, and fecundity as part of my
dissertation research at Washington State University -
Vancouver in the Conservation Biology lab of Dr. Cheryl
Schultz.
Butterfly Friendly
Wine
Less than one percent of
the native prairie habitat remains in the Willamette Valley
of western Oregon. The once expansive prairies have now
largely been lost to afforestation, invasion by shrubs and
grasses, urban development, and conversion to agriculture.
Viticulture is particularly prevalent and large vineyards
can be found throughout the region. Many of these vineyard
lie adjacent to or near prairie patches hosting endangered
butterflies including the endangered Fender's Blue
Butterfly. Working in collaboration with federal agencies
and private landowners I am interested in developing a
"Fender's Friendly" wine certification program. This
program would aim to increase the biotic prairie value of
wineries through planting of native nectar and host plant
species, reducing pesticide use, and increasing public
awareness of butterfly conservation in region.
Impacts of Tidal Flat Loss on the
Avifauna
in the Yellow Sea Ecoregion
The tidal flats in the
Yellow Sea ecoregion are disappearing at an alarming rate.
These rich ecosystems provide important stopovers for
literally hundreds of thousands of migratory shorebirds as
they migrate north to their breeding grounds on the Russian
and Alaskan Arctic tundra and when they return southward in
the fall. Exact measures of tidal flat loss are difficult
to ascertain. However, a number of large scale tidal flat
reclamation projects have been completed in the past decade
including the environmentally devastating Saemangeum
reclamation project that destroyed over 400 square
kilometers of tidal flat and estuary. The Saemangeum
estuary once hosted internationally important numbers of
the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Great Knot as well a host of
other bird species. Remaining tidal flats still support a
wide array of species including the globally vulnerable
Saunder's Gull and Chinese Egret and provide feeding
grounds for endangered Nordmann's Greenshank and
Black-faced Spoonbill. I am working with the avian
conservation group Birds Korea to quantify remaining
tidal flats. I am using high-resolution publicly
available satellite imagery (Daum and Google Earth) and
Arc-GIS mapping technologies to relate remaining tidal
flats to bird distributions and to focus conservation
efforts in the region. (click here for more
information)
Ecology and Impacts
of Forestry Practices on
the Pacific Banana Slug
(I know they don't have
wings)
The Pacific Banana Slug is
the second largest slug in the world and can be found in
damp forests from California to southeast Alaska. While
there is a vast amount of literature on slug ecology and
impacts in an agriculture little is known about forest slug
ecology. I am interested in learning more about the basic
life history traits and ecology of Pacific banana slugs
using recently developed fluorescent pigment marking for
use in mark-recapture techniques to explore the impacts of
forestry practices on the species.
Impacts of Wildlife
Based Recreation on Wildlife
Wildlife based recreation
(e.g. photography, birding, ecotourism) is among the
fastest growing forms of recreation in the United States.
Recreation wildlife watchers can affect wildlife behavior
in a variety of way. I am interested in quantifying the
impacts of recreational activities associated with wildlife
based recreation. I have been working with student Ryan
Blazer and professor Dr. Pat Magee Western State College of
Colorado to investigate the
impacts of birders at a Gunnison Sage-Grouse lek in the
Gunnison Basin of western Colorado. In addition, I am
interested in determining the impacts of playback, a
method employed by birders to lure birds into view using
audio recording of the species, on nesting success and
territory establishment and maintenance.
Using Data Generated
by Amateur Ornithologists to
Document Changes in Phenology and Range of Birds
Birding is one of the most popular and
rapidly growing recreational activities in the United
States. Vast quantities of data are recorded by birders and
stored in a variety of open digital sources including:
submissions to rare bird records committees, breeding bird
atlases, birding list-servs and newsletters, and recently
through online checklist programs such as eBird. Using
these sources I am interested in documenting range
expansion and changes in migratory bird phenology using
this data. In addition, I am interested in determining how
accurately the birding community can detect species
declines.
Past Research
Interests
Sperm
Morphometry and Ejaculate Characteristics
in Gunnison and Greater
Sage-Grouse
My Sr. thesis (2008)
project at Western State College of Colorado focused on
comparing sperm morphometry and natural ejaculate
characteristics of the two species of Centrocercus grouse
occurring in Colorado: Greater Sage-Grouse
(Centrocercus
nevadensis) and Gunnison Sage-Grouse
(C.
minimus). In spring 2008 we
collected natural ejaculates from strutting male Greater
Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in Moffat County,
Colorado and from Gunnison Sage-grouse in Saguache County,
Colorado. Natural ejaculates were collected by placing
freeze-dried female greater sage-grouse in the copulatory
position fitted with false cloacas on leks. We compared the
ejaculate characteristics of sperm concentration, percent
viable sperm, percent motile sperm, relative motility of
sperm, percent structurally normal sperm, and the types and
predominance of abnormal sperm in ejaculate samples. This
study was intended as a preliminary investigation into the
potential effects of inbreeding on Gunnison sage-grouse.
With the exception of sperm concentration, we found few
differences in ejaculate characteristics between the two
species. However, we compared and found significant
differences in the sperm morphometry of the two species.
This study is the first to document natural ejaculate
characteristics and sperm morphometry in a non-passerine
bird species utilizing a polygnous lek mating system.
Life
History and Conservation of the
Queen Alexandra's Birdwing
Butterfly
The Queen Alexandra's
Birdwing Butterfly (QABB) (Ornithoptera
alexandrae) is the largest butterfly
in the world.The male's wingspan averages an impressive 178
mm and the larger females average an impressive 200 mm.
However, females with wingspans of up to 250 mm (8+ inches)
have been recorded. QABB is restricted to a small
geographic area in the Oro (Northern) Province of mainland
Papua New Guinea. Here they reside in the lush secondary
and primary forests growing on volcanic soils. Throughout
its range QABB occurs at low densities and an observer can
spend several days in suitable habitat without encountering
an adult. Three widely separated populations of QABB can be
found in the region. One population can be found found on
the volcanic Popondetta Plain but widespread logging and
development of plantations, primarily oil palm, have
destroyed and severely fragmented forest habitats in the
region. A second high elevation population occurs in the
Afore region and appears to be less impacted by
anthropogenic activities. A third isolated population in
the Cape Ward region has yet to be quantified in any
systematic way. Due to the isolation and small size of each
population, habitat loss, and demand for this species in
the specimen trade the species has been listed as CITES I,
endangered. During the summer of 2008 I worked for
Conservation International and with the Oro provincial
wildlife office to document the status of the species in
the region, shed light on the species life history, and to
identify and make contact with traditional land owners,
with QABB residing on their land, interested in conserving
the species.
Butterfly
Communities and Abundance in
Mechanically Treated Sagebrush-Steppe
Vocal Ecology of
Boreal Owls
Impacts of Grazing
on Prairie Butterflies
