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Thus, I write this to thank our former employees and students for their hard work, welcome the new arrivals, and celebrate our current team!<\/p>\n
Students: <\/strong>After 2 Master\u2019s students that I was advising (Jamie Burke and Teague Scott \u2013 woohoo!) finished their thesis in 2020, at the end of 2021 I was also able to congratulate Kristina Parker, a student I co-advised, on completing her thesis<\/a> focused on reptile ecology <\/a>on the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area<\/a>. Kristina is now gainfully employed at the US Geological Survey Snake River Field Station<\/a> working in their conservation genomics lab \u2013 congrats Kristina!!<\/p>\n As a naturalist at heart who works almost exclusively with bird conservation, I enjoyed the chance to learn more about snakes and lizards and some of the conservation challenges they face here.<\/p>\n Jay Carlisle<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I also enjoyed co-advising a Mozambican Master\u2019s student Domingas Matlombe<\/a> on her thesis that focused on the foraging ecology of African vultures and human attitudes and perceptions towards vultures, an important complement to our other vulture research in Mozambique, Africa.<\/p>\n I\u2019m now advising 3 students: 2 PhD and 1 Master\u2019s, all of whom are working on great projects with very tangible conservation applications. Madeline Aberg<\/a> is on track to defend her PhD dissertation (entitled, \u201cA Coupled Human and Natural Systems Approach to Studying Recreation on Public Lands\u201d<\/em>) in December 2022. She\u2019s accomplished a lot already, including co-authoring an important publication documenting illegal killing of protected wildlife<\/a> and presentations at many conferences.<\/p>\n I\u2019m excited to see her compelling chapters on the path towards peer-reviewed publications!<\/p>\n I\u2019m also tickled that she was just invited to present her research to the Bureau of Land Management\u2019s Leadership Team for Idaho \u2013 a sign of how necessary her research is.<\/p>\n As I write this, Rebecca Bishop is in Mozambique for the final stage of data collection for her Master\u2019s thesis focusing on vulture ecology in Gorongosa National Park<\/a> and is preparing a presentation for the Pan African Ornithological Congress she\u2019ll attend in Zimbabwe later in November. Following up on Teague\u2019s important research on movement patterns of vultures in Gorongosa<\/a>, Rebecca is examining detailed habitat use patterns.<\/p>\n She is also doing some very cool drone-based quantification of habitat and vegetation at nesting sites!<\/p>\n Both of these components will be important contributions for the critically endangered species we\u2019re studying<\/a> . She is on track to defend her thesis by summer 2023.<\/p>\n Our newest PhD student is Brittanie Loftin, who recently completed her Master\u2019s on the genetics of one of my favorite raptors \u2013 the Mississippi Kite<\/a>! Her PhD research will focus on Cassia Crossbills, Northern Goshawks, and the human dimensions of habitat conservation for these and other species in the Albion Mountains and South Hills of southern Idaho \u2013 the entire range of Idaho\u2019s only endemic bird, the Cassia Crossbill<\/a>. Fortunately, because my social science experience is limited, Brittanie will be co-advised by Dr. Megan Cattau in Boise State\u2019s Human Environment Systems program<\/a> who\u2019s already been great to work with and I\u2019m excited to see what Brittanie\u2019s research will reveal!<\/p>\n Staff:<\/strong> During the spring of 2022, we said goodbye to 2 mainstays with IBO \u2013 Stephanie Coates and Jessica Pollock<\/a> \u2013 both of whom moved on to new challenges.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not easy to say goodbye \u2026<\/p>\n \u2026 especially to high quality people\/dedicated employees, but I\/we also want what\u2019s best for each person.\u00a0 Thus, I\u2019m quite pleased to report Stephanie has taken her talents to Point Blue Conservation Science<\/a> in California where she’s focused especially on monitoring and conservation of the Near Threatened Snowy Plover.<\/a> These are ‘slightly’ smaller shorebirds (*wink*wink*) than the Long-billed Curlew<\/a> she studied with IBO, both during her Master\u2019s thesis and afterwards when she joined IBO for several years of curlew and Yellow-billed Cuckoo<\/a> work.<\/p>\n One of Stephanie\u2019s passions is creating compelling science communication tools from the data she collects and we recently agreed to have an animation of Long-billed Curlew movements that she created be included in materials for a K-12 science textbook.<\/p>\n Talk about making a lasting educational impact for future generations of scientists!<\/p>\n Meanwhile, after more than a decade of sustained work for IBO that included initiating our popular hummingbird monitoring project<\/a> and working on a variety of songbird, raptor, and curlew projects, Jessica was recruited into a great opportunity for her with WEST, Inc. focusing on renewable energy. THANKS VERY MUCH Stephanie and Jessica for your high quality work!<\/p>\n To complement our core research and community science team, we recruited Jennifer Boisvert in early 2022.<\/p>\n She joined our crew of research biologists\u2013 Heather, Jeremy, and Rob\u2013who all continued to do stellar work this year. Jennifer comes with loads of prior experience, including a Master\u2019s thesis <\/a>focused on Sharp-tailed Grouse.<\/p>\n Having worked as a seasonal biologist for IBO on several prior occasions, it was an easy decision to offer her a role to help us with our standardized bird survey efforts, especially our IMBCR <\/a>efforts in Montana and partnering with World Wildlife Fund<\/a> to collect bird data as part of their sustainable ranching programs<\/a> in the Great Plains. Jennifer has also played a key role in our relatively new Cassia Crossbill project<\/a>, including leading the fieldwork effort in both 2021 and 2022. Welcome Jennifer!<\/p>\n Last but not least, I\u2019ve just started the process of hiring another team member and I\u2019m excited to welcome Lesley Howard as a Research Biologist starting this winter! Lesley has been a GREAT employee during 3 prior IMBCR field seasons<\/a> for us and she\u2019s looking forward to taking on more responsibilities and diversifying into other projects – potentially including survey efforts for Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Pinyon Jay.<\/p>\n This article is part of our 2022 end of the year newsletter! View the full newsletter here<\/a>, or click \u201colder posts\u201d below to read the next article.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/ibo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/141\/2022\/11\/Rattlesnake_pit_tagging_HeatherHayes_2018-1.jpg\")
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\n 2019 Curlew Migration Animation<\/span>
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