Northern Arizona University

My master’s thesis research in the Sisk Lab of Landscape Ecology and Conservation Biology is aimed at understanding how forest fuels reduction treatments impact the avian community. This research was conducted on the Southwestern Plateau site of the Fire and Fire Surrogates Program (FFS) experimental treatment areas. (For more information on the national FFS program and their sites please visit their Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/ffs/.)

As part of this research, I assisted in conducting avian counts using a distance sampling methodology. In addition, we monitored Western bluebird nests within the Southwestern Plateau FFS study sites. Western bluebirds are a cavity nesting species. Therefore, to increase our effectiveness and accuracy of determining the nest status, I developed a wireless video camera system with which we could view the inside of the nest cavity to determine the nesting stage, number of eggs or number and age of nestlings (For more information on the cavity viewer, please follow the link provided below).

I was also interested in how these fuel reduction treatments may influence home range size and habitat use. I used radio telemetry homing methods to locate male Western bluebirds during a specific period of the breeding season to address these questions. This data will be overlaid on aerial photographs of the study sites taken after the treatments were put in place using a GIS framework.

These data along with forest structure measurements my crew and I collected will help me to understand how these birds are influenced by habitat structure and these fuel reduction treatments. This research directly applies to current Southwestern ponderosa pine forest management issues.

My cavity viewer Web page shows the layout and manufacturing specifications for your own tree cavity viewer. It also has a few short video clips of monitoring western bluebird nests. One has eggs and the others show nestlings.

Phone: 928-523-7839
Email: scr36@nau.edu

Curriculum Vitae