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Halsey National Forest
Halsey National Forest
I got to help collect research in the Halsey National Forest in Halsey, NE after the Bovee fire on October 2, 2023. We gathered plant data with the Daubenmire frame to look at the diverse recovery patterns in different monoculture patches: juniper, ponderosa, and prairie patches. This tested my plant ID skills while learning new research techniques. This is the first paper publication that I was a part of. I also got challenged by entering all the collected data into charts to be later deciphered.
Barta Brothers Ranch
Barta Brothers Ranch
Joined a slew of students and scientists into the sandhills of Nebraska to collect vegetative biomass data. We collected multiple years, and two different seasons of growth. The data was dried and weighed to see if the geographical region amongst the dune shifted species. We also analyzed species between burned areas vs non burned and grazed vs non grazed. This boosted my western Nebraska plant ID and functional group knowledge.
Red-tailed Hawk Project
Red-tailed Hawk Project
The Red-tailed Hawk Project, aims to decipher the subspecies of Buteo jamaicensis by gathering various data such as: genomics, migrational patterns, plumage, and natural history. I aided with their project by helping track red-tailed hawks across NE Kansas. We collected blood, feathers, customary pictures, and banded what they thought could be a new subspecies. We placed a 3D printed solar tracker on two birds with unique plumages (JLo and Archibald) to track their potentially diverse winter migration. This project is looking at connecting the genotype and phenotype with their migrational location.
Red-tailed Hawk Project
Red-tailed Hawk Project
I was responsible for leading a poster presentation at the Peru State Creativity Expo in 2022. This poster displayed an array of data the Red-tailed Hawk Project has previously collected combined with the data we collected with them.
Highland Center for Natural History, AZ
Highland Center for Natural History, AZ
Internship 1
Highland Community Nature Center in Prescott, Arizona gave me the opportunity to explore the educational side of my degree. We spent our days taking various age groups (4-13 y/o) of children through the Ponderosa Pines and semi-arid grasslands teaching them about the various elements around them. Photosynthesis, Earth systematics, and native vs invasive species are a few things we taught them about. This challenged me to learn and teach an entire new ecosystem. If we plan to make a change, we must lean on education.
Prairie Plans Resource Insistute
Prairie Plans Resource Insistute
Internship 2
Prairie Plains Resource Institute reach for grassland management and preservation. Their goal is to preserve the decaying prairie land from the Nebraska soils. They taught me their techniques for maintaining a high native genome on their land. As the plants became ready to seed, we walked the lands picking the buds by hand ensuring to keep pure native prairie species seeds for the next planting season. I personally got to help pick Ragwort (Packera plattensis) during my time there. The workers showed me that enhancing the production of prairie violets can help the endangered Regal Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria idalia).
Northern Plains Climate Hub
Northern Plains Climate Hub
Internship 3
During my internship I had the opportunity to shadow the director of the Northern Plains Climate Hub. The experience began with my attendance at the Front Range Fire Workshop in Longmont, Colorado, where I gained insights into fire management from a variety of perspectives including ecologists and marshals. Following this, I participated in two diverse ranch tours, learning how different ranchers adjust their management strategies to meet their specific objectives. Additionally, I had the chance to sit in on several meetings, observing the firsthand importance of collaboration and communication. The internship experience not only enriched my knowledge but also inspired my graduate project and blossomed new career opportunities.
Cows take over the city of Lincoln
Cows take over the city of Lincoln
Cattle grazing is used as a management tool to create heterogeneity and maintain biodiversity in prairie conservation areas managed by the Nature Conservancy, National Audubon Society, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and other natural resource groups. Naturally, prairies would have been burned by wildfire or grazed by native herbivores. Modern rangelands are annually grazed or hayed. Hardin Hall’s demonstration prairie and East Campus’ expertise in cattle and grazing give us the unique opportunity to demonstrate the conservation of Nebraska’s grasslands using the diverse tools, including grazing, available in the grassland management toolbox. This is also a great opportunity to introduce East Campus undergrads, who are increasingly city kids with little ranch experience, to large grazers. I got to be one of the presenters as the cattle grazed the planted prairie, educating undergraduates about rangeland ecology!
Nebraska Game and Parks
Nebraska Game and Parks
Pallid Sturgeon
Scaphirhynchus albus
I got the opportunity to hit the lower Missouri River with Nebraska Game and Parks to search for shipper pallid sturgeon. The term shipper pallid sturgeon indicates that the sturgeon meet the reproductive and physical requirements to be shipped to the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery. There they assist the endangered prehistoric fish in reproductive aid in hopes that in the future they will become self-dependent.
Green Glacier Curriculum
Green Glacier Curriculum
The Green Glacier Curriculum is a newly developed education program designed to enhance middle school students' understanding of woody plant encroachment. This week-long course was created to complement a field trip the students participated in the previous week. During the field trip, I helped in guiding the students through tours of three distinct ecoregions on East Campus: the short grass prairie, the tall grass prairie, and the forest. Helping with any questions the students or chaperones might have.
"The horizon is limitless, the air is sweet, and there are no traffic noises or billboards to assault the senses and sensibilities."
"The horizon is limitless, the air is sweet, and there are no traffic noises or billboards to assault the senses and sensibilities."
The Nature of Nebraska - Paul A Johnsgard
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