Natural Resources Researchers Excel at Recent Professional Meetings

Student and faculty researchers from USU’s Forest, Range and Wildlife Sciences (FRWS) Department in the College of Natural Resources are making a name for themselves – and for Utah State – at regional and international academic gatherings.

Undergraduates John Reese and James Stewart placed second and fifth, respectively, in public speaking at the 2006 Society for Range Management Annual Conference held last month in Vancouver, British Columbia. USU’s SRM student chapter placed second in the conference’s poster competition.

 

At the 2006 annual meeting of the Utah Chapter of The Wildlife Society held earlier this month in Moab, Utah, graduate student Phoebe Zarnetske received the best poster award for her entry, “Wildlife Habitat Suitability Modeling with Incomplete Data: Incorporating Ecological Pseudo-Absence Points.” She is conducting research under the supervision of Thomas Edwards, FRWS professor and assistant unit leader of the USGS Utah Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Unit.

 

At the same meeting, Sarah Lupis, community-based conservation program specialist for
USU Extension and the Jack H. Berryman Institute, won the best professional paper award for “Take Action! The past, present, and future of sage-grouse conservation in Utah.” Read more about the research of Lupis and FRWS professor and Extension wildlife specialist Terry Messmer on the web.

 

Lupis was also elected chapter secretary.

 

Patricia Cramer, postdoctoral researcher in the FRWS Department and USGS Utah Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, received second place for her paper, “Wildlife Passages: How Does Utah Compare to the Rest of North America?” also in the professional category. Visit the Web site to read more about Cramer’s research, which is in collaboration with John Bissonette, FRWS professor and unit leader of the USGS Utah Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit.

 

Graduate student Silvia Rosa placed third in the student category for her paper, “Deer mortality in the roaded landscape: A workable solution on I-15 in Utah” in the student category. The paper reflects research she has been conducting with faculty mentor Bissonette.

 

Rosa was also awarded one of four $500 student scholarships from the Utah Chapter of TWS.

 

“Students often become the ‘face’ of their university at important gatherings such as scientific conferences,” said Johan du Toit, FRWS professor and department head. “We are proud of our high-achieving students, who make us look really good.”