The
URSP program has allowed me to develop the skills I need to pursue a career as
ecological researcher. I have gained experience in all aspects of research,
from writing a grant, to developing a project, to interpreting and presenting
the results. This experience has put me one step forward on a path to pursuing
my passion of studying avian ecology.
Growing
up in a small town in the mountains of Virginia, I quickly developed a
fascination with wildlife. As a child, I left no stone unturned searching frantically
for anything that creeped, crawled, or slithered. This passion has stayed with
me throughout my life. My interest in birds specifically grew out of a
childhood obsession with dinosaurs. Once I discovered that birds were their living
descendants, I became infatuated. This love of birds is ultimately what
inspired me to pursue an education in conservation biology.
In
the spring I had the chance to take an ornithology class with Dr. David Luther
and affirmed that it is my definitive aspiration to study birds and determine
how to prevent their extinctions at the hands of human activities. I spent this
summer working under the guidance of Dr. Luther to understand how grassland
bird species are affected by the sounds produced by major highways. Grassland
birds are an understudied group that is in decline across North America. Determining
how human disturbance affects grassland bird species is a crucial step in
understanding how to protect and conserve viable habitats, which are on the
decline as urban sprawl continues to spread.
We
collected data at Manassas National Battlefield Park on the territory size and
song quality of two target species to determine how sound level is affecting
their reproductive behaviors. We also collected data on community composition
throughout the park and determined how it was related to sound level. By increasing
the knowledge of how anthropogenic sound affects birds we hope to make it
possible to make ecologically conscious decision as Northern Virginia continues
to develop.
