"a farmer brought me a toad in his hat" -an excerpt from my field notes while doing wildlife surveys today

Ba-by SHRIKES do do do-do do-do #birds

Trans pride but make it florida birds #pridemonth #wildlifeart #birdpainting #oilpainting #floridaart

I may be studying herps, but that won't stop me from getting excited about all our other wildlife sightings in the field. Today we saw 2 badgers running around in a field and I almost cried (which has honestly been my reaction to every badger sighting I've had).

Assuming everything worked as anticipated, the ARU I put out yesterday has collected its first night of frog call recordings. And with that, my master's research data collection has begun!

I feel obligated to share this photo I took today because, well, look at it. How could a sleepy barred owl sitting in a blooming magnolia tree on a sunny spring day not bring you some joy?

🐦 Do some birds have #PrettyPrivilege? 💫 New paper: doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.2846 We show that ~half the variation in research effort on 293 bird species in US+Canada is explained by just 3 factors: 1)visual appeal, 2)range size, & 3)# of universities w/in ranges. What we did & why it matters:🧵

grad school has quite literally take over my spotify

Amphibian migration season is coming this spring. Remember to drive slow!

While I work on this year's valentine, here's last year's.

Semester cutoffs feel less relevant in grad school because I'm still working on my research, buuuuut I just submitted my last final, so I am officially done with my first semester of classes 😁

This is my 5th winter making paper snowflakes based on different flora and fauna, and this year's set of designs is based on species featured in World of Wonders by @nezhukumatathil.bsky.social which I've spent the semester reading and discussing in class.

Getting your first solicitation from a predatory journal has to be some kind of milestone in this field, right?

Being home with my parents for the holidays inevitably turns into going through closets and the attic to purge things we don't need anymore - I think I can finally get rid of the GRE prep books I never used for the GRE test I never took

I made one! I’ve realized when going to conferences that graduate students and early career professionals in the wildlife world are constantly communicating and will be working together later down the road. LMK if you want to be added, I def missed folks! go.bsky.app/FFFHs9U

Well it only took 14 years or so, but our team has finally detected river otters in the Chicago suburbs. A testament to the clean-up of Chicago's waterways, and to our stubborn determination to keep putting camera traps out forever. Hoping for bobcats next! www.lpzoo.org/otters-spott...

Please share widely! Apply to come join us at South Dakota State University!