Madison graduated with a B.Sc. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from The Pennsylvania State University. She worked as a research technician studying federally listed Piping Plovers with Virginia Tech on Fire Island, where she discovered her passion for ornithology. Madison also worked as a crew leader with the NY–NJ Trail Conference, with a focus on habitat stewardship and emergency response on trails. Before starting at SDSU, she worked as a crew leader with Mass Audubon on Piping Plover protection and management, including monitoring work in active nesting areas and supervising a field crew. She also has hands-on experience in wildlife rehabilitation, caring for species from songbirds to bobcats.

For her M.Sc., Madison is studying how resilient avian communities respond to different environmental changes. Her research focuses on habitat changes impacting Missouri River Piping Plovers. Madison plans to use her research to directly contribute to management and conservation projects in a state or federal agency.

Winnie received a BA in Biology from Franklin & Marshall College in 2021. There, she developed an interest in working with animals after she volunteered with capuchin monkeys at her college vivarium and conducted an independent study focused on the mortality patterns of Jane Goodall’s chimpanzees at Gombe National Park in Tanzania. After graduating college, Winnie joined the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT as an educator where she taught pre-K to 12 students to appreciate marine life and their environment. During the summers, Winnie pursued field work positions monitoring endangered shorebirds like piping plovers, which have taken her from Fire Island, NY, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia with the Virginia Tech Shorebird Program to Horseneck Beach, MA, where she worked for MA DCR.

Her research project will focus on the extent that the circular seabird economy has on facilitating island restoration after invasive mammals have been eradicated. The circular seabird economy describes the process in which seabirds deposit nutrients onto islands through their guano and carcasses. These nutrients return to the ocean through runoff or are transferred through the food web into the soil, vegetation, and other animals. This can promote plant productivity which can be detected using remote sensing products.

When she’s not watching birds on the beach, Winnie can be found doing arts and crafts, traveling to different countries and trying new foods, and asking strangers to pet their dogs. She also enjoys being outside, reading books, and testing new recipes.

Louis is a senior at South Dakota State University majoring in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. Though he has been passionate about birds for most of his life, it was not until ornithology his sophomore year that he really discovered his true passion for avian species. He then led the ornithology lab section his junior year. Following that, he spent the summer in Minnedosa, Manitoba as a field technician working on both Blue-winged Teal and Canvasbacks, searching for nests and broods via thermal drones. He is also conducting independent research on changes in Canvasback and Redhead nesting phenology over the last 50 years in southwest Manitoba. He was also responsible for restarting the Ducks Unlimited chapter at South Dakota State University in Spring 2025, where they were able to raise $130,000 for wetlands in South Dakota.

When he is not in class or working on extracurricular projects, Louis can be found outside as an avid waterfowl hunter and fisherman. And when it’s too brutal to fish or hunt, he may be in the gym.