Thanksgiving Guests
May Term 2022
Images and story coming soon
Spring 2022 is a wrap!
The students of WLE 450 have surpassed themselves. Note to self: *always* offer an extra credit opportunity to turn favorite trail camera images from a class project into memes.
Save the Date: Dissertation Defense, January 7th 2022
Update: I PASSED!
Interviews with Beth McAvoy, Maine Center News
I simply cannot resist the opportunity to talk about trail cameras! Beth was a delight to work with, walking a novice like myself through the steps of a remote interview, and inviting me down to southern Maine for a hands-on demo on her family's property!
7th International Martes Working Group Symposium |
August 2018
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It was such a pleasure to meet my fellow weasel enthusiasts! Many new friends acquired and a wonderful chance to discuss current research, share ideas, and start scheming for next steps...
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Winter field work in Maine: Year 1 |
January - May 2018
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A very short, belated update: SO MUCH SNOW! But, so much data! Be warm and well out there everyone, a few favorite pictures from the winter surveys at 119 sites from the first summer...
New Publication! |
January 2018
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I am SO happy to see this group project come to fruition! My lab group and esteemed colleagues in Wisconsin are some of the very best people in the world, and it's been a privilege to work along side all of you :)
Summer field work in Maine: Year 1 |
June - September 2017
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Maine is such a fantastic place! We've been up at dawn and out on the roads all day, everyday, hiking, completing vegetation surveys, and most importantly, setting out a billion* trail cameras! *slight exaggeration
I can't say Thank You enough to my fearless technician Dustin Nadjkovic, who's braved the bugs, the bear spray, and the swamps AND is still sprinting to survey sites like a champ.
I can't say Thank You enough to my fearless technician Dustin Nadjkovic, who's braved the bugs, the bear spray, and the swamps AND is still sprinting to survey sites like a champ.
Images courtesy of Holland Haverkamp, U Maine Division of Marketing and Communications
PhD Entrance Seminar |
April 17, 2017
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Officially official! My entrance seminar to introduce research on Camera traps and occupancy modeling for optimal large-scale monitoring of mesocarnivores in Maine was held on April 17th, 2017. The first preliminary season has been a whirl wind of activity, and it was so exciting to share some initial results and discuss future directions.
Masters Defense |
December 16, 2016
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My generous committee and extremely supportive lab gathered all together despite the snow to support and ultimately approve my MS thesis exit seminar and defense. Working with such fantastic people, and on a project I truly care about, has been such a humbling and inspiring experience. THANK YOU ALL!
Apostle Islands Collaborative Research |
October 2016
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After nearly six months without field work, I was definitely excited to load up in a van full of UW-Madison grad students and trek northward to assist deploying trail cameras in the Apostle Island National Lakeshore! It's a project near to my heart not only for the amazing location and privileged access I enjoy as a tag-along research assistant (all the way out to Outer Island this time!) but even more so for the fantastic collaboration.
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Julie and Ken with the National Park Service are the absolute BEST, and Dr. Olson and his energetic flock of Northland College undergraduates are an inspiration and a joy to work with. I already can't wait to get out there again, and to see some of the (spoiler alert) unbelievably rich wildlife image data and analyses come to fruition.
SLAM Project Field Work COMPLETE! |
April 2016
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It was with both nerves and anticipation that we (myself, Nick Forman and Molly Wick with WDNR) watched a compact helicopter come in for a landing on what was at last shaping up to be a day with good flight conditions. After uncertain winds and several early morning phone calls, our outstanding pilot from Brainerd Helicopters was able to leave their snowy headquarters and make his way down to fly my final beaver surveys! The view was perfect, the swaying helicopter definitely a new and different experience, and the pile of multi-observer data an exciting reward. Fried cheese curds with the happy and safely landed crew was not a bad bonus either!
The next morning, I trekked out for another field work first: trail camera retrieval via rubber donut.... Treacherous ice had left one, lone camera stranded over the winter. I figured late April water shouldn't be too cold, so I hiked myself out to the point, blew up a $4 floaty, and tied the cable lock key to by ball cap for safe keeping. IT. WAS. FREEZING. But, successful!
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2016 Conference Season |
March 2016
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The last few months have been a whirl wind of activity, and I am deeply grateful for the support of my major professor and the Forest and Wildlife Ecology department for encouraging and supporting us budding professionals attending so many amazing meetings. Having the opportunity to push into the next professional stage along with my grad student cohort was especially valuable, we could all support and encourage each other giving our first oral presentations!
Presenting, I am learning, is something that the more I do the more I realize I could improve. Each time I talk about my research I learn more about it! Overall I managed to avoid saying anything too embarrassing at the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference (Grand Rapids, MI), the Wisconsin TWS Chapter Meeting (Wausau, WI) and the St Louis River Summit (Superior, WI), as well as entertain a pub full of curious citizens at The River Talks (Duluth, MN) and engage a classroom of awesome 5th graders! |
Archive
December 2015: First Publication!
I am so happy that a project, began with Max Allen several years ago, has come to fruition and I am so pleased to be a co-author. AND it's about fishers, one of the neatest animals out there. Read all about it! |
November 2015: #fieldworkfail
The final check of trail cameras is complete! The majority of sites will remain up until mid January 2016, but the bulk of analysis begins NOW. One thing I discovered is that if you set trail cameras for beavers, it is possible that you will find them, and that they will chew down the tree and drag it away, CAMERA STILL ATTACHED! Adios, site SLE3-19, I searched as best I could. Lesson learned. |
September 2015
The majority of the Van Deelen / Drake labs finally convened for some amateur-league volley ball and professional-league BBQing! Devil's Lake was a gorgeous setting for kicking back with my favorite hard working, caring, smart and yes a little bit wacky (sorry Tim) labmates. We missed Shawn and Emily though... |
August 2015: I wrote a short piece with a whimsical introduction to initiate collaboration with Wisconsin fur trappers.
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February 2015
My preliminary findings from my MS research on the SLAM project won the "best graduate student poster" at the TWS meeting in Duluth! It was a great finale to a fun conference season. |