Graduate Students

My project will experimentally test the effect of different logging treatments on vernal pools and 3 amphibians that differ greatly in life history but use vernal pools for breeding. The goal of this research is to understand how behavioral, demographic, and community processes are altered by land-use practices that modify and fragment natural habitats. Link to Maine LEAP web page.

Previous Research Experience: Professional work with the Arizona Game and Fish Department - ecology and management of Arizona's native leopard frogs and invasive crayfish, plus monitoring of species ranging from Northern goshawks to Kanab ambersnails. Masters thesis - evaluation of monitoring methods for frog populations and estimation of viability of Columbia spotted frogs in the Toiyabe Range, Nevada. Undergraduate research - homing behavior of spotted salamanders.

Paul Damkot, MS candidate, paul.damkot@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Steve Coghlan

Summer 2007-Fall 2009

B.S. Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA, 2005

I am currently investigating the effects of riparian characteristics on terrestrial invertebrate input and brook trout bioenergetics in headwater streams of Maine and New Hampshire. Many of these streams are cold, nutrient-poor and unproductive, thereby providing an inadequate aquatic invertebrate prey base to support brook trout persistence. Therefore, it is highly likely that brook trout residing in these streams rely heavily on terrestrial invertebrate subsidies not only for growth and reproduction, but also for metabolic maintenance and survival. Previous studies have shown that terrestrial invertebrate input varies among areas with different riparian characteristics, and an existing bioenergetics model has been used to quantify the amount of brook trout growth that can be attributed to consumption of terrestrial invertebrates. However, this project will be the first to investigate the combined responses of terrestrial invertebrates and salmonine bioenergetics to variation in riparian characteristics and the first to be conducted in the northeastern United States.

Previous Research Experience: As an undergraduate, I worked as a student intern and technician at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute for three years. This sanctuary and research facility houses four chimpanzees that have acquired some of the signs of American Sign Language. My responsibilities included participating in the daily care of the chimpanzees, ensuring their psychological well being by providing various enrichment activities, supervising other student interns and assisting graduate students with thesis data collection.

After graduating from Central Washington University, I spent two years working for a small, private consulting firm that conducts fisheries research for a variety of state, federal and Native American agencies. Most of this research focused on Chinook salmon in the Yakima and Cle Elum Rivers.

Thomas Danielson, PhD candidate (part-time) thomas_danielson@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Cynthia Loftin

Fall 2002-Summer 2008

M.E.M. Aquatic Ecology, Duke University, 1996

M.P.P. Public Policy, Duke University, 1996

B.S. Wildlife Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1993

B.B.A. Finance, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1993

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP), Biological Monitoring Program evaluates the condition of Maine's streams, rivers, and wetlands by sampling the communities of aquatic macroinvertebrates (e.g., mayflies, stoneflies) at specific locations. The Biological Monitoring Program uses the biological information with supporting chemical, physical, and landscape data to determine if streams and rivers are achieving the aquatic life goals assigned to them under the State's Water Classification System (e.g., Class A, Class B, Class C). The purpose of my project is to develop an algal biological assessment tool to assess the condition of streams and rivers and to provide additional information for management decisions.

Previous Research Experience: I am currently an Aquatic biologist with the MDEP, Biological Monitoring Program where I assess the conditions of rivers, streams, and wetlands by examining their resident biological communities. Before moving to Maine, I was an ecologist with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Wetland Division in Washington, D. C. While there, I helped states develop wetland bioassessment methods, created an Index of Biotic Integrity for stream fish in northern Virginia, and participated in a wetland bioassessment project in Maryland involving amphibians, macroinvertebrates, and vascular plants. At other times in the past, I was a research assistant with projects related to breeding birds in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (New Hampshire), forest birds in Belize, and gypsy moths and small mammals in the Quabbin Reservoir (Massachusetts).

Dimitry Gorsky, PhD candidate, dimitry.gorsky@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Joe Zydlewski

Fall 2006-Fall 2010

M.S. Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 2005

B.S. Marine Biology, Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island, 2000

My project is investigating possible causes for local declines in Lake Whitefish populations throughout Maine focusing on model lakes in the Allagash Watershed in northern Maine. State biologists have documented declining populations in many lakes in Maine. Once a favorite target for ice fishermen, whitefish are now found in only 75 lakes in Maine, with only 18 providing a sports fishery. Whether man’s earlier exploitation of the lake whitefish population had anything to do with their present abundance cannot be proved. Water level changes, introduction of competing and/or prey species, or other natural phenomenon may be contributing factors. I will be investigating competitive and predatory interactions between lake whitefish and rainbow smelt. I will also be compiling historic data on whitefish lakes to develop a model that may explain ecological food web based stability which may allow smelt and whitefish to coexist in some lakes. Finally, I will be observing spatial and temporal movements of lake whitefish in two model lake systems in order to identify year round habitat use.

Previous Research Experience: Masters thesis - For my masters thesis I described upstream movement of sea-run Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River, Maine. I related transit speed through the river system to environmental factors and observed path choice of individuals based on stocking locations. In this study I used TIRIS PIT tag technology which allowed me to passively monitor over 1600 fish using a series on nine fishways ranging over 100 kilometers of river.

Jeremiah "Jed" Hayden, MS candidate, Jeremiah. Hayden@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Frederick Servello and Cynthia Loftin

Fall 2004-Fall 2008

B.S. Wildlife Biology and Management, University of Wyoming

My project is aimed at determining long-term population trends of secretive march birds in southern and central Maine wetlands. I will be using birds fixed with radio transmitters to determine accurate detectability rates for call back surveys. I am also looking at habitat factors limiting the population of least bitterns, common moorhens, and pied-billed grebes in Maine.

Previous Research Experience: Populations of saw-whet and boreal owls in northern Idaho; diet of northern flying squirrels in central Idaho; canvasback productivity in Ruby lake National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada; botulism in marshes of the prairie potholes of North Dakota; transferability of avian cholera in captive mallards at the National Wildlife Health Center Madison, Wisconsin; productivity of piping plovers on Long Island, NY; American lobster population and migration aboard the F/V Rebecca EB Long Island, NY.

Janice Huebner, MS candidate, Janice. Huebner@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Frederick Servello and Dave Yarborough

Fall 2007-Fall 2009

B.S. Wildlife Management, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 2004

Wild turkey depredation on commercial blueberries.

Previous Research Experience:

Jessica Spelke Jansujwicz, PhD candidate, Jessica.Jansujwicz@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Aram Calhoun and Rob Lilieholm

Fall 2007- Fall 2011

B.S. Zoology, Connecticut College, New London, CT, 1993

M.S. Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 1996

My research focuses on the theory and practice of collaborative watershed management. In theory, a collaborative approach is a logical framework for decision-making and action. Heralded as a preferred alternative to the regulation/litigation model embodied in the Clean Water Act and similar legislation, partnerships are highly acclaimed for their ability to achieve better environmental outcomes. In practice, however, partnerships between government and private interests represent a new form of management tool with uncertain success. I am interested in bridging the gap between theory and practice by comparing local cases of community based management (with an emphasis on small, isolated wetlands) to the theoretical level. I am also interested in the link between private property and the protection of a common good (wetland functions and values). The overall goal of my research is to offer a set of recommendations for designing a participatory decision-making process producing effective policy outcomes and “on-the-ground” changes in wetland resources.

Previous research experience: As an undergraduate I studied population structure, growth and fecundity of the salt marsh snail (Melampus bidentatus). Graduate work has included baseline ecological surveys for a salt marsh restoration project in Rhode Island, a site conservation plan for a tidal wetland on the lower Connecticut River, and research on the private property rights movement. Most recently, I was a graduate fellow with the Association of State Floodplain Managers . My research focused on the implications of the property rights movement on flood hazard mitigation and the efficacy of partnership approaches to reconcile competing interests on private lands.

Casey Jackson, MS candidate, Casey.Jackson@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Joseph Zydlewski

Spring 2005- Fall 2008

B.S. Biology, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, 2004

I am interested in looking at the ability of smallmouth bass (an introduced species) to out-compete native brook trout and landlocked Atlantic salmon in western Maine. I will use radio telemetry to study the movements and distribution of juvenile brook trout and their competitors in the Rapid River.

Previous research experience: Most recently, I worked for Washington State Fish and Wildlife to define and quantify spawning habitats for Pacific Northwest Salmon species. For U.S. Fish and Wildlife, I assisted in field work to quantify steelhead population dynamics using PIT tags and habitat surveys. As an undergraduate, I worked as a research assistant studying the mating systems of two successional shrub species growing in the blast zone of Mount St. Helens.

Emily S. Knurek, MS candidate, Emily.Knurek@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Judith Rhymer & Frank Drummond

Summer 2007- Fall 2009

B.A. Biology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 2007

The Clayton’s copper butterfly (Lycaena dorcas claytoni Brower) was first discovered in Maine and described as a distinct subspecies in 1940, morphologically different and geographically isolated from the nominate subspecies, Dorcas copper (Lycaena dorcas dorcas Kirby). In 1997, Clayton’s copper was listed as endangered in Maine. Basic information about Clayton’s copper taxonomy and population status is necessary to effectively manage this endangered species. My objectives are to 1) determine the taxonomic status of Clayton’s copper butterfly as a distinct subspecies through morphological and genetic analyses and comparison with nominate species, Dorcas copper and 2) estimate size of Clayton’s copper subpopulations in Maine and establish a baseline for future population monitoring. These data will aid in determining the national and global conservation status of Clayton’s copper and informing conservation planning and recovery efforts.

Previous research experience: I worked for the Toledo Zoo's Conservation and Research Department for four field seasons, participating in captive rearing and release programs for two federally endangered and two state endangered butterflies: the Karner blue butterfly, Mitchell's satyr, swamp metalmark, and purplish copper. In addition to daily care of these butterflies and their hostplants as well as population and habitat surveys, I examined feeding preferences for Mitchell's satyr larvae. As a field assistant at BGSU, I conducted behavioral assessments of oviposition for a project that examined the effects of habitat management on the Karner blue. As part of the Brabander Lab at Wellesley College, I examined the concentration, distribution, fate, and transport of heavy metals in contaminated urban soils, local produce, and lake sediments using x-ray fluorescence technology.

Dawn Morgan, MS candidate, dawn.morgan@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Aram Calhoun

Fall 2007 - Fall 2009

B.S. Geology, Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 1998

Assessment of vernal pool resources in the town of Orono will offer biologically significant information necessary for informed decisions regarding town planning. Our goal is to engage community members, including high school students, members of the Orono Land Trust, and town officials (conservation commission, town planner, planning board etc.) by training them to assist as citizen scientists with a town wide vernal pool mapping project. We hope that by providing the town with a GIS layer showing the location of vernal pools that meet the criteria to be considered Significant Wildlife Habitat by the Maine Natural Resources Protection Act, and by working with the town planner to incorporate other critical natural community and wildlife habitat data available from the Beginning with Habitat program, we may be able to assist with and encourage a proactive approach to conservation planning at the Town level.

Previous research experience: While working on an undergraduate degree, I received funding from the KECK Geology Consortium to study the sedimentology and paleontology of Cambrian age shallow marine deposits in northwestern Wyoming. As a middle school educator I taught the skills necessary for students to collect and contribute data to local, state and national citizen science projects. Field work included amphibian monitoring, nesting bird surveys, forest inventories, and wildlife corridor mapping. As a summer field technician I helped with a project studying the effects of development and disturbance on breeding shorebirds on the arctic coastal plain in Alaska. This past summer I assisted a University of Maine PhD candidate with her research on the role of aquatic habitats (fishless ponds, vernal pools, fish ponds) in supporting amphibian assemblages.

Terry "TR" Morley, PhD candidate, terry.morley@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Aram Calhoun

Fall 2001- Fall 2007

B.S. SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY, 1990

My research explores the contributions and functions of small headwater wetlands within catchments. I am currently using forested groundwater slope wetlands 'seeps' as my wetland community. Previous research indicates that these areas may be important to regional biodiversity and can affect nutrient transformations and and surface water flows of headwater streams especially during low-flow. My project consists of three components: a biodiversity component that identifies vegetative 'indicator species' of seeps and an assessment of amphibian community dynamics, a physical component that explores the extent to which seeps maintain stream hydrology and buffer stream chemistry, and a biogeochemical component using natural abundance nitrogen isotopes to identify selective enrichment via microbial uptake and transformation.

Previous research experience: Prior to 2001, I conducted professional wetland delineation and functional assessment across the United States and included identification and management of threatened and endangered species habitat.

Pilar Palacios, PhD candidate, pilar_palacios@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Malcolm Hunter

Summer 2003-Fall 2008

Environmental Biologist, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile, 2003

Bachelor in Environmental Sciences with a major in Biology, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile, 2001

The main focus of my doctoral research is wetland conservation. We were asked by the Chilean government to classify Chilean wetlands and prioritize their conservation. For this, we are using a geographical information system to classify wetlands into different ecotypes based on their physical features such as temperature, precipitation, soil permeability, and slope. To determine watershed-based conservation priorities for wetlands, each ecotype will be associated with functions and threats. This information will be combined with data on proximity to populated areas and water extraction to identify a hierarchy of sites to conserve based on landscape-scale characteristics of the wetland.

Previous Research Experience: Environmental Biologist Thesis - Effect of forest fragmentation on litterfall production and decomposition, at Los Queules National Reserve, Chile. Biological Advisor on the Marine Environment Observation Program, initiated by the Chilean Navy to monitor the levels of pollution of the country's main ports.

Dan "Viorel" Popescu, PhD candidate, dan.popescu@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Malcolm Hunter

Summer 2007-Summer 2011

B.S. University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, 2001

M.S. SUNY - Envir. Science & Forestry, Syracuse, NY, 2007

I am investigating the response of amphibian communities to different forest management practices in Maine, specifically at understanding the effects of forest regeneration on habitat use by wood frogs, spotted salamanders and green frogs. Additionally, I am interested in amphibian movements (migration ad dispersal) through the landscape and use of GIS and landscape ecology methods applied to amphibian conservation.

Previous Research Experience: I was employed for 5 years at the Center for Environmental Research of the University of Bucharest, were I worked as a research assistant in various conservation projects, including: GIS-based habitat suitability analyses for the protected long-nosed viper and Hermann’s tortoise in the Iron Gates Natural Park, Romania and telemetry study of large carnivores in the Putna-Vrancea Natural Park (southeastern Carpathians). Separately, as part of an environmental NGO, I conducted amphibian and reptile inventories in the Semenic National Park (southwestern Carpathians). My MS thesis research at SUNY-ESF looked at the effects of multiple scale environmental factors and climate change on the distribution of mink frogs in New York State.

Emily Schilling, PhD candidate, emily_schilling@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Cynthia Loftin

June 2002-Fall 2008

M.S. Ecology & Environmental Science, University of Maine 2002

B.A. Colgate University, 1997

My project is aimed at determining the effects of the introduction of fish on macroinvertebrate communities of fishless lakes in Maine. The main objectives of the project are to : 1) identify attributes of macroinverterbrate communities that indicate fishlessness, 2) identify geomorphic and geographical factors controlling the distribution and abundance of fishless lakes in Maine, 3) build GIS-based models predicting the probability that a given lake is fishless, and 4) assess the accuracy of the models using macroinvertebrate indicator species.

Previous Research Experience: My Masters work focused on relationships between fish community structure and stream geomorphology. My undergraduate research examined macroinvertebrate grazer effects on periphyton abundance in streams.

Shonene Scott, MS candidate, shonene.scott@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Dr. Daniel Harrison & Dr. William Krohn

Fall 2006-Fall 2008

M.S. Biology, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 2005

B.S. Biology, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 2000

B.S. Computer Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 1988

My research focuses on quantifying and describing the influence of forest management practices on snowshoe hare and Canada lynx populations in Maine. In general, my objectives are to 1) document the variability in snowshoe hares density across forest stands with differing harvest management strategies and histories; 2) examine trends in snowshoe hare density between 2001-2008 in regenerating conifer stands to determine if snowshoe hare populations cycle in Maine as they do in the Boreal forest region; 3) to evaluate the relative importance of location, forest succession, and structural vegetation characteristics in explaining the observed variation in snowshoe hare density in regenerating conifer stands, and specifically to determine if changes in density are synchronized over a geographic area; 4) use available VHF and GPS radio telemetry data to describe the spatial ecology of Canada lynx in Maine relative to changes in snowshoe hare populations.

Previous Research Experience: Myotis yumanensis and Myotis lucifugus bats are morphologically similar and difficult to distinguish from one another, resulting in frequent species misidentification in the field. The purpose of my research was to use mtDNA analysis to identify M. yumanensis and M. lucifugus to species in Oregon in order to investigate their geographic distribution and to describe morphological and acoustical similarities and differences between the two species. A portion of the 16s rRNA mtDNA gene was amplified and a RFLP protocol was developed to confirm species identity of each bat using a tissue biopsy collected from each individual bat in the field. Logistic regression models were developed using genetically confirmed species identities to estimate the probability of correct species identification based on morphological, behavioral, and echolocation characteristics. streams.

Rita Seger, PhD candidate, rita.seger@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Fred Servello

Fall 2004-Spring 2009

B.S. Biochemistry, University of Missouri at Columbia

M.D., University of Missouri at Columbia

Board-Certified Internal Medicine

Black bears remain nearly immobile, without urinating, for months during hibernation. Humans and other animals experience disuse bone loss in settings of immobility, and in the absence of urination this would lead to elevated serum calcium, and a cascade of physiological problems. In partnership with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, I am performing radiographic and laboratory analysis of wild black bears in an effort to understand the bears' unique ability to avoid elevated serum calcium during hibernation.

Previous Research Experience: None.

Amanda Shearin, PhD candidate, amanda.shearin@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Aram Calhoun and Cyndy Loftin

Spring 2006-Fall 2010

M.S. Plant,Soil, and Environmental Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 2005

B.S. Environmental Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 2001

My research examines the effects of fish introductions on amphibian communities in historically fishless lakes in Maine. The objectives of this study are to 1) identify the amphibian species that occur in Maine's naturally fishless lakes, 2) determine if there are differences in amphibian communities of naturally fishless lakes and those that are stocked with fish, 3) determine recruitment success of amphibians typically associated with vernal pools that breed in these lakes, and 4) determine lake characteristics that affect breeding success by vernal pool amphibian species.

Previous Research Experience: My M.S. research examined the effects of cropping practices on the abundance and distribution of the beneficial invertebrate weed seed predator Harpalus rufipes DeGeer in Maine. My undergraduate research was based in Kabanjahe, Indonesia, with the International Potato Center (CIP), where I studied the efficacy and adaptation of new methods to control the potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella Zeller) by indigenous farmers. Following graduation, I assisted several marine research projects in Friday Harbor, WA, Discovery Bay, Jamaica, and Nahant, MA. Prior to my graduate studies in Maine, I was an educator and teen volunteer coordinator at the Ecotarium, an environmental learning center and museum in Worcester, MA. While at the museum, I developed and delivered interactive public programs on forest, freshwater, and marine ecology, initiated a teen volunteer amphibian monitoring project, and trained volunteers for public presentations. From 2002 to 2005, I also served as a part-time naturalist and staff scientist aboard whale watching vessels based out of Bar Harbor, ME and Gloucester, MA.

Erin Simons, PhD candidate, erin_simons@umit.maine.edu

Advisors: Daniel Harrison and William Krohn

Fall 2004-Spring 2008

GIS Graduate Certificate, University of Maine, 2004

M.S. Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, 2001

B.S. Biological Science, North Carolina State University, 1997

Following the 1989 Maine Forest Practices Act, trends in commercial timber harvesting have shifted away from clearcutting and towards partial harvesting in the spruce-fir forest of Maine. It is important to understand how this shift has affected, and will continue to affect, the habitat availability for wildlife species dependent on different forest seral stages. The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), along with its primary prey the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), is associated with early-successional forest, the availability and distribution of which has likely changed significantly from when clearcutting was the dominant harvesting practice. The goal of my project is to understand the impacts of forest management on lynx and lynx habitat in Maine by applying a GIS-model for predicting lynx occurrence to both current habitat distribution and future habitat distributions predicted by alternative forest management scenarios.

Previous Research Experience: M.S. research – Predicting suitable habitat for the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) in southwestern Idaho. B.S. research – Developing a method for visual assessment of vegetation biomass in a savanna ecosystem to direct herders and limit desertification (Kenya). Additional experience: I worked as a field technician for a long-term project studying mountain lion (Puma concolor) population demography and habitat use in the Albion Mountains in south-central Idaho; Developed a soils GIS-dataset for the Soil Conservation Alliance (Idaho); and Developed a protocol for identifying frog breeding pools in Yellowstone National Park based on hyperspectral satellite images using ENVI.

Richard "Gus" Wathen, MS candidate, Richard.Wathen@umit.maine.edu

Advisor: Joe Zydlewski, Steve Coghlan

Spring 2007-Spring 2009

B.S. Marine Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, 2003

I am investigating the competitive interactions between native Atlantic salmon and introduced smallmouth bass. Specifically, I want to determine if juvenile smallmouth bass compete for preferred habitat with juvenile Atlantic salmon, thereby reducing Atlantic salmon foraging success and reducing survivorship. I will be using a simulated stream located at the Aquaculture Research Center to test competitive interactions and data collected in various Maine rivers to assess microhabitat use and growth rate when Atlantic salmon and smallmouth bass exists in sympatry and allopatry.

Previous Research Experience: Before coming to the University of Maine I worked as a fisheries technician on the Effectiveness Monitoring Project, part of the Rocky Mountain Research Center. With EMP I investigated the effects of logging and road building on the stream geomorphology of endangered bull char and steelhead trout spawning streams throughout the upper Columbia River basin. I have also worked with Alaska BLM doing impact assessment of proposed gold mines on spawning Pacific salmon populations in remote rivers.