Awarded “High Achieving in Research”

Coe College’s WinSTEM (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) organization awarded me this on behalf of the Biology Department for my undergraduate research projects and poster presentation.

Research Experience

Masters Research

I studied at American University for my Master of Science Degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. My thesis, Anthropogenic noise on hiking trails and its effects on Passerine vocalizations, was a small study conducted on the birds of the Patapsco Valley State Park (Maryland, USA) using AudioMoths to record their vocalizations and Raven Pro to analyze the generated spectrograms. While working on my master’s degree, I developed a number of skills, including but not limited to:

  • Eastern US bird identification proficiency (sight & sound)

  • Raven Pro 1.6 Sound Analysis Software

  • AudioMoth proficiency

  • R: Statistical Analysis Software

  • Python Programming Language

  • ArcGIS

  • Ethograms

  • Plate pouring

  • Slide Staining

Thesis PDF Download

Future Research Interests

I am interested in a variety of research areas regarding megafauna and birds including:

  • Resiliency in species that faced extinction and managed to bounce back

  • Their capacity for empathy (both intra and inter-species)

  • Using bioacoustic conservation and other non-invasive methods for animal welfare and population level monitoring

  • Life histories and morphological evolution studies

  • How human interactions (e.g. encroachment on habitat, noise and light pollution, etc.) are affecting their behavior

  • The effects climate change is having on their breeding, migration, and feeding behavior

I am also passionate about supporting the integrity of the scientific process and the legitimacy of the scientific community. The field of biology is in a replication crisis. The pressure to publish new, unique, and statistically significant (rather than biologically significant) research in order to obtain funding has led to large amounts of research being non-replicable. This issue is further compounded when new research is built upon the foundation of these faulty studies.

I would like to do my part by replicating landmark studies in my area of expertise and, if results differ, try to understand why. While this may not be as exciting as publishing brand new research, it will help keep us honest. I see this as akin to the work of a gardener - weeding out the faulty, non-replicable studies to make more room for truly objective, high quality research to thrive.

Undergraduate Research

My senior year at Coe College I conducted an independent research project with two other students under the guidance of my advisor, Dr. Jesse Ellis. Our project was entitled “Black-capped Chickadee gargle repertoire in the Cedar Rapids area”. Using a shotgun microphone and recorder, my peers and I recorded Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH) vocalizations, analyzed the gargles on Raven Pro, and compared the gargles recorded on campus to ones that were recorded off campus. This was done to see if gargles repeated and if there were certain notes that were more commonly used than others. I also assisted an alumnus on his project “Dispersion of Non-Native Eurasian Tree Sparrows in the Cedar River Valley” by conducting population surveys.

Below is a list of skills I gained throughout my undergraduate degree:

  • Midwestern US bird identification proficiency (sight & sound)

  • Raven Pro 1.5 Sound Analysis Software

  • Sennheiser ME67 Shotgun Microphone

  • Merantz PMD 660 Recorder

  • Minitab 17 Statistical Software

  • Ethograms

  • Population survey

  • Seine Net

  • Sherman Trap

  • Animal Handling

  • Autoclave

  • Centrifuge

  • PCR

  • Western Blot

Field Research

During the last two summers of my undergraduate education, I had the opportunity to study at Coe College’s Wilderness Field Station in Ely, Minnesota, USA. The Field Station, set up on Low Lake, is a short canoe trip away from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The classes I took, “Animal Behavior” and “Conservation in the Wild”, had us conduct our own month-long experiments while on trail. Not only were we responsible for our own course work and independent projects, but we also learned how to canoe, camp, portage, and cooperate with our peers in stressful situations. Other skills I learned include:

  • Northern US bird identification proficiency (sight & sound)

  • Mist Net

  • Frabill Torpedo Crawfish Trap

  • Animal Handling