Click For My: Curriculum
vitae
I grew up in Mulvane a small
suburb of Wichita, Kansas. From an early age I found a deep
interest in the natural world. As a young kid I spent my
time chipping marine fossils from Kansas limestone. Around
age 10 I was introduced to the world of birding. After
discovering my passion for birds I never looked back. After
leaving home at age 17 I traveled around the country
working as a research biologist for a variety of government
agencies, bird observatories and college research
laboratories. My passion for birds and birding took me to
far off locations I had only dreamed of visiting from
tropical rainforests of Central and South America to the
scrub cactus forests of Cuba to the Korean Peninsula.
During my travels I witnessed the impact that humans were
having on the wildlife of the planet. In addition, I was
exposed to numerous influential scientists and their
students who were themselves having a significant impact
upon the science of biology and the conservation of
species. After approximately 10 years on the road I decided
to return to school in the hopes of eventually attaining a
degree in biology and subsequently pursuing a graduate
degree in conservation biology or a related field.
Currently, I live in Gunnison, Colorado where I am pursuing
a Bachelor's degree in biology with an ecology emphasis at
Western State College of Colorado. The college has provided
a fertile ground for my undergraduate research with its
geographic placement within close proximity to vast areas
of public and protected land and a diversity of biomes. In
addition, Western State has strong financial backing for
its undergraduate research program in biology through a
generous endowment, the Thornton Endowment. Furthermore,
the faculty within the biology department at Western State
are unparalleled in their dedication to their students and
have provided a great deal of support in my research
endeavors.
Shortly before coming to Western State I developed a keen
interest in butterflies. Ultimately this led to a
preliminary study on the effects of various grazing regimes
on butterflies inhabiting Valentine National Wildlife
Refuge. This project provided an excellent model and
learning experience for a subsequent study on the effect of
the mechanical treatment of sagebrush (Artemisia
sp.) on organisms inhabiting that ecosystem. A study on the
response of birds to the mechanical treatments was ongoing.
However, I felt due to the small scale of the treatments
(< 6-10 acres) that butterflies would provide a more
robust measure of response to those treatments. This led to
a research project in collaboration with the Bureau of Land
Management funded by the Xerces Society. This project
proved to be a critical shift in my research priorities
from the utilization of birds as measures of ecosystem
health, restoration efforts, and management to a focus on
insect. Since then my interest in entomology have expanded
to include tiger beetles and robber flies.
I recently graduated from Western State and currently am
working on my dissertation in Dr. Cheryl Schultz's lab at
Washington State University in Vancouver, Washington.
The focus of my research is to determine the effects of
herbicides, currently utilized to control introduced and
invasive weeds, on butterflies.