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Chris McCreedy
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M.S. Candidate
cmccreedy@prbo.org
Resume |
Chris obtained a B.S. in Resource Ecology
Management (focus on Forest Ecology) at the University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor in 1998. Two days after graduation, he traveled to New Mexico to
study Bell's Vireos and was forever altered. He has worked in the Eastern
Sierra for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory since 1999, and has led PRBO's
Mojave and Sonoran Desert projects since 2003. He's moved to Tucson to
refine his study design and analysis skills, and to get the data out.
He'll be working at the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, in a study of
catastrophic fire impacts on breeding and migrant songbirds of the Sonoran
Desert.
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Jherime L. Kellermann
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Ph.D. Candidate
jlkellermann@gmail.com
Resume |
Jherime completed a multiple major program
in 1998 at Pennsylvania State University with degrees in anthropology and
psychology. In 2007 he obtained a Masters in Wildlife from Humboldt State
University. His broad research interests focus on avian conservation,
habitat ecology, and migration ecology. He is particularly interested in
how these are affected by human land use techniques, intensities, and
histories. He is also interested in ecosystem services,
bird-invertebrate-plant interactions, and the interface of agroecosystems
and wildlife. From 1998 – 2001 he worked with the USGS and the Peregrine
Fund on the Puaiohi Recovery project in the Alakai Wilderness of Kauai,
HI. From 2002 – 2008 he worked with Redwood Sciences Laboratory – Bird
Monitoring Lab and the Klamath Bird Observatory, monitoring birds and
their habitats throughout the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion of northern
California and southern Oregon. Jherime has also been involved with
research on Mexican Spotted Owls, Bahama Parrots, American Dippers,
Aleutian Cackling Geese, and Snowy Plovers; and he has taught residential
outdoor programs for K-8th graders in coastal Maine. Jherime’s master’s
research examined the ecological and economic benefits of birds on coffee
farms in Jamaica. He found that birds significantly reduced pest levels,
an ecosystem service valued at $44-105 US per hectare. His current
research at university of Arizona is examining the importance of upland
habitats to migratory birds in southeastern Arizona. The extent to which
migrants use habitats across the extreme elevational gradient of Arizona’s
“sky islands” is relatively unknown. Jherime’s research will provide much
needed information on the diversity and abundance of migratory birds
selecting these recognized Important Bird Areas. When not involved in
research, Jherime has explored cultures and ecology in Ecuador, Costa
Rica, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, the Malaysian Peninsula and Borneo,
and eastern and western China. He believes that international
collaboration and understanding of the challenges facing other countries
is one of our best hopes to addressing the problems our global community
faces. |
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TJ Fontaine
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Postdoctoral Fellow
fontaine.joseph@gmail.com
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TJ obtained a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from
The University of Montana in 1997, and his Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries
from The University of Montana in 2006. Over his tenure as a wildlife
biologist TJ has examined questions relating to avian life history
evolution and behavioral ecology on three continents. Currently, he is
working as a postdoctoral fellow examining the patterns of migration and
stopover ecology in Neotropical migrants. Specifically, he is interested
in identifying major migratory pathways and sources of selection acting on
stopover site selection. By understanding how birds move from winter
grounds to breeding grounds and the obstacles they face along the way, we
can better understand their evolution and subsequently their management. |
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Claire
Crow |
M.S. Candidate
crowc@email.arizona.edu
Resume |
Claire obtained a B.S. in
Biology from Southern Connecticut State University in 1992, and is
currently pursuing an M.S. in Wildlife Management and Conservation at the
University of Arizona. Since 1995, most of her work has been in the
federal service and she is presently a SCEP student. She is currently the
Wildlife Program Manager at Zion National Park in Utah. Claire is a
conducting her thesis research at Zion National Park and Grand Staircase
Escalante National Monument in Utah, and at Walnut Canyon National
Monument and the surrounding Coconino National Forest in Arizona. She is
investigating relationships between vegetation characteristics and bird
community dynamics in pinyon-juniper woodlands. Her field sites include
areas previously treated with chaining, previously treated by
hand-cutting, and untreated areas. Additionally, the project includes an
examination of pre- and post- treatment data collected from a hand-cut
site at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Her research applies
directly to future decision-making and the evaluation of current practices
in fire management and pinyon-juniper restoration.
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Alyssa House |
M.S. Candidate
alyssahouse@yahoo.com
Resume |
Alyssa
grew up outside of Philadelphia. She received her BA from Smith College in
Spanish and Environmental Science in 2000. She served in the Peace Corps in
northwestern Nicaragua, in the environmental education sector, from 2000-02.
She has also worked at the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory in Colorado, in
education and research. She spent the past year interning at CEDO (the
Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans) in Puerto Peńasco, Mexico. Her
master’s thesis will address the conservation and biology of shorebirds in
the Upper Gulf of California wetlands. As well as being a migratory
stopover, these estuaries are also a key breeding area for endangered Least
Terns. |
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Glenn
Johnson |
M.S. Candidate
glennjo@email.arizona.edu |
Glenn is currently pursuing a Masters of Science
degree with the Wildlife and Fisheries Science Program in the School of
Natural Resources, University of Arizona. His goal is to understand and
utilize the scientific process in wildlife ecology research, and effectively
apply my knowledge in order to conduct meaningful field studies that will
inform wildlife management and conservation practices. Research focuses on
modeling bird distribution and diversity on the upper San Pedro River in
southeastern Arizona and northern Sonora, especially in relation to the
vegetative and hydrological influences of the thriving beaver population
that was re-introduced to the area in 1999 and 2000. |
Kristina Ecton Paxton
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M.S. Degree
kristina.ecton@nau.edu
Website |
Kristina ( formerly Ecton) Paxton was a graduate student at Northern Arizona
University where she received her Ms degree. Her thesis focused on the use
of stable hydrogen isotopes to examine Wilson's warbler migration dynamics
in the southwest. She is now in the PhD program at Southern Mississippi
State University.
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Chris
O'Brien
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Ph.D. Candidate
obrienc@email.arizona.edu
Resume
| Website
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Chris received a B.S. in Zoology from Northern
Arizona University in 1996. After graduating, he remained in Flagstaff and
worked at NAU and at the Colorado Plateau Research Station until 2002 when
he started a Ph.D. in the Department of Biology. He move to Tucson to
complete his Ph.D. in 2003, studying the community
implications of parasite host interactions in a desert spring system in
Central Arizona. He is currently living in Oregon. |
Karla Pelz-Serrano
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M.S. Candidate
kpelzser@email.arizona.edu
Resume |
Karla is originally from
Mexico; she obtained her B.S. in Biology from the Universidad Autonoma de
Queretaro in Queretaro, Mexico in 2004. For the past four years she has
been working on projects in ecology and the conservation of mammals, such
as volunteering for The Northern Jaguar Project, and studying beavers,
coyotes and black bears in the Sierra de San Luis, Sonora. Recently, she
has been working for the Laboratory of Ecology and Conservation of
Wildlife at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) on the “Janos la
Ultima Pradera” project, first as a field technician and now as a
volunteer. Her work on this project has been focused on the ecology and
conservation of black tailed prairie dogs and American porcupines and
monitoring reintroduced black footed ferrets. Karla is currently pursuing
a M.S. in Wildlife Management and Conservation at the University of
Arizona. Her goals are to apply all the scientific knowledge she gains in
her M.S. to generate management plans for the conservation of the natural
resources at a transnational scale. Her master’s research focuses on the
effects of isolation on the conservation and population genetic structure
of beaver populations in the Cajon Bonito River, Sonora (Mexico) and the
San Pedro River, Arizona (U.S.). Her research has important implications
for future management plans for the conservation of the beaver, which is
in danger of extinction in Mexico, and for the riparian ecosystems in
which beavers are important ecosystems engineers.
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