I am an applied ecologist interested in the impacts of human activity on wildlife communities. I have investigated the indirect impacts of wind energy on grassland bird communities, urbanization in the surrounding matrix on bird communities, roads and urbanization on dispersal and gene flow in small mammals, and forest thinning practices on bird communities. I am currently examining the impact of controlled burns on vegetation and wildlife communities in Minnesota's shrub-carr wetlands. This project is a collaboration with the MN Dept of Natural Resources and is specifically interested in how the season in which controlled burns occur impacts natural communities. Although I have worked with a variety of taxa, my expertise and passion are in birds, which I have been observing and pursuing my entire life.
