2007 Centennial Refuge Scholarship Winners

Lisa Max, UC Santa Barbara, PhD, Coral Reef Food Webs in Palmyra Atoll (CA)

Lisa will study the ecosystem prcoesses underlying Palmyra Atoll National Wildife Refuge.  She will focus her research on the role of detritus cycling and investigate its affect on maintaining energetic and nuitritional pathways in coral reef food webs.  Lisa will conduct surveys and routine monitoring in order to gather data.  Through her study, Lisa hopes to fill a void in marine systems research on the effects of detritus cycling on natural and anthropogenic disturbances and how these potential disturbances may cascade through communities.  Her work will benefit the management of wildlife resources in the refuge and may be applied to coral reef communities elsewhere. 

Megan O’Reilly, Montana State University, Bachelors, Moose, Willow, and Landbird Communities (MT)

Megan will study the the relationship that exists between vegetation structure and avian diversity in Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana.  In order to determine the effects on the composition and structure of willow communities, she will collect data on current levels of moose browsing and the abundance and community compostion of breeding landbirds.  Megan’s resarch will add to the limited data on avian communitiy composition in relation to the structure of riparian vegtation; assist in refining methods currently used to assess the condition of vegetative riparian communities; provide data about the impact of ungulate browsing on the overall health of populations, ecosystems and landscapes.   

Nicholas Osman, University of South Florida, Masters, Skink Microhabitat Requirements (FL)

Nicholas will assess sand skink and bluetail mole skink microhabitat requirements as well as their inter-population variability.  He will meet with refuge managers in the Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge in Florida in order to determine the sites he will survey.  When sampling, Nicholas will extract DNA, run feeding trials, and statistically analyze data on the skinks to find associations between microhabitat variables, species, diet, genetics, and habitat. The results of his research will create better ecosystem management decisions and offer insight into the evolution of  Pestiodon fossorial specialization. 

Nicole Athearn, University of California Davis, PhD, Bird Habitat Modeling South Bay Salt Pond (CA)

Nicole will research management techniques for target bird species in California’s South Bay Salt Pond.  She will do so by creating spatially explicit models to define habitat parameters.  Nicole will utilize ongoing water quality and bird monitoring data to determine expected bird numbersbased on pond water level management. She will use her findings to decidemanagement tools and models that can be applied to restoration efforts in  Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. 

Prairie Johnston, California State University Chico, Masters, Native Herbaceous Seedling Recruitment (CA)

Prairie will research the spatial factors influencing understory plants along the Sacramento River.  The factors she will investigate include distance to remnant riparian forest, exotic grass competition, and overstory cover.  Prairie will survey and measure seedling establishment along the river at various sites in the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge.  She will use her findings to provide knowledge of the best methods for introducing native understory species into restored forests.

Samantha Lantz, Florida Atlantic University, Masters, Wading Bird Prey and Foraging (FL)

Samantha will study the factors affecting wading bird prey availability and their foraging success in Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.   She will specifically look at food availability, which is shown to be a major factor limiting the success of avian populations. This research will help in the preservation of these species by demonstrating how environmental factors affect wading bird foraging. Samantha’s study will also assist the Everglades National Park with conservation management decisions.