Archived Student Profiles

James Burnham is working on his M.S. degree with Professor Bill Karasov from Wildlife Ecology. He has been interning with the International Crane Foundation (ICF) as a research associate. ICF works worldwide to conserve cranes and the wetland and grassland ecosystems in which they inhabit. Primarily his duties have involved coordinating the evaluation of a long-term ecological monitoring project that is taking place in southeastern China and is looking at the ecological relationships that exist at Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve in Jiang Xi province. In addition to investigating data entry and management, practices by nature reserve staff, James has been involved in the establishment of a functional database built to handle the six years of collected observations as well as future observations. The thesis research James is pursuing focuses on habitat selection patterns at multiple scales among different feeding guilds wintering at the Poyang Lake Reserve. Specifically, he is looking at the relationships that exist between fluctuating water levels, submerged macrophyte distribution, and the habitat utilization of three different feeding guilds. The goal of this work is to contribute toward the construction of a model that will allow conservationists and managers to predict how the alteration of hydrological cycles within the lake basin and adjacent watershed may affect several species of threatened or endangered species, including the world's largest population of Siberian Cranes.

Ainka Granderson is an M.S. student in our Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development program working with Professor Stan Temple from Wildlife Ecology. She is completing her thesis project on evaluating participatory approaches to managing protected areas in the Caribbean. As part of her research, she returned to her native Trinidad and Tobago last summer and interned with a regional NGO, the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute. Ainka worked with them to facilitate input of stakeholders from local communities, local conservation NGOs and government agencies into the development of a monitoring and evaluation framework. This framework was then applied to participatory protected area projects in Belize, Jamaica and St. Lucia, using data collected mainly from interviews with protected area managers. On completing her degree, Ainka envisions working "on the ground" in international conservation, with a focus on integrating biodiversity conservation and rural livelihood development. Passionate about renewable energy and green building issues as well, she is also pursuing a graduate certificate in Energy Analysis and Policy.

Jenny Tennessen is a second year student working toward a M. S. degree in the Nelson Institute's Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development program with Professor Stan Temple from Wildlife Ecology, and has not grown up yet. She is pursuing her childhood passion to study marine mammals. Her Masters research examines the bioacoustic behavior of killer whales off the west coast of Washington State, to determine if killer whales can modulate components of their vocalizations to avoid masking from their noisy underwater environment. Through her research Jenny hopes to assist the whale watching industry, the federal government, and Washington State and British Columbia revise current voluntary boater guidelines and formulate regulations necessary to help southern resident killer whales recover from endangered status while creating a sustainable whale watching industry.

In the summer of 2007, Jenny began her field research collecting underwater recordings of killer vocalizations, much of which was made possible by a Travel Grant from the Nelson Institute, and a generous scholarship from the Graduate Women In Science (GWIS). Additionally, she interned with The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, Washington, where she assisted with an on-the-water boater education program that informs vessel owners about ways to sustainably watch whales, and collects data about vessel behavior and compliance with existing whale watching guidelines. Jenny is looking forward to another exciting field research season next summer, and to continuing her internship with The Whale Museum. She plans to graduate with an M.S. degree in 2009, and hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in marine mammal conservation, where she can further understand the acoustic behavior of these magnificent animals while fostering a sustainable relationship between whales and humans.

Peter Boger is finishing his M.S. in Land Resources with Professor Nancy Mathews from Environmental Studies, with his thesis research focusing on teaching of environmental values in cross-cultural settings. His work took him to Far East Russia's Muraviovka Park, the only privately managed nature preserve in Russia. The park brings American teachers to teach Russian students and teachers about the importance of wetlands and crane conservation. For the past two summers, he has taught over 100 students at the camps, and this summer served as the American teachers’ team leader. While at the Nelson Institute, Peter has interned with the Aldo Leopold Foundation through his Doris Duke Fellowship, helping out with an international conference on environmental ethics and creating a bibliography of citations of Aldo Leopold’s writings. Peter’s broader academic interests include environmental history, communications and film, education, policy, psychology, and ethics. He is interested in pursuing further research on the cultural and historical implications of human-wildlife interactions in urban settings and in film and children’s literature. Prior to attending UW-Madison, he was Special Assistant to the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Maria Dahmus completed her M.S. in Land Resources in 2005 and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Land Resources with Professor Harvey Jacobs from Urban and Regional Planning and Environmental Studies. Before coming to Madison, Maria worked at the Outdoor Education Center in Trinity, TX, co-led backpacking trips in the Rocky Mountains, and taught scuba diving (interspersed with marine ecology field lessons) to high school students in the British Virgin Islands. As a M.S. student, she continued to pursue her interest in environmental education. She worked as a research assistant for a series of environmental studies videos; her thesis examined the American Dream and environmental education. As a Ph.D. student, her research focuses on how ideas about the purpose of land shape individual land use, land use policy, and land use conflicts. Her dissertation examines the formation of political coalitions among land use organizations that currently share land use goals but have a history of strained relationships.

Maria lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband and two dogs. In Spring 2008, she will lecture an environmental studies course, Social Dynamics and the Environment, at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Upon completion of her Ph.D., Maria hopes to both teach environmental studies and be engaged in community environmental education and land use extension outreach.

Steven Hall is studying the effects of wetland plant harvesting on biodiversity, with collaborators in Michoacán, México, and in the UW Arboretum with Professor Joy Zedler from Botany. In Central México, rushes and cattails have been harvested by indigenous people for millennia; harvesting along with burning could promote the persistence of a diverse native flora, as well as providing a sustainable economic resource. In the Midwestern US, invasive hybrid cattails can replace sedge meadow vegetation, but native plants could prove resilient to invasion when cattails are harvested strategically. Steven is combining field experiments, aerial photo analysis, seed-bank studies, and ethnography to address these questions. This research has promise to influence wetland conservation and restoration policy in both México and the US.

Leela Hazzah is currently working toward her PhD in the Land Resources program with Assistant Professor Adrian Treves from Environmental Studies. Her dissertation focuses on investigating the social factor underlying lion decline in Kenyan Maasailand. In addition, she is also examining the appropriate ways to carry out participatory conservation initiatives that can lead to an increase in local community tolerance toward carnivores. Leela’s overall aim is to find a sustainable solution to conflict between pastoralists and carnivores, specifically in areas where livelihoods and culture intimately share living space with large carnivores. She believes coexistence is possible, but only when local communities participate in conservation planning and action while also receiving economic benefits from living alongside wildlife.

Leela completed her MSc in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development in early 2007 with Professor Lisa Naughton from Geography. Her thesis was entitled: "Coexistence or Killing? Community attitudes towards conservation initiatives and the motivations behind lion killing in Kenyan Maasailand." She will utilize many of the lessons and skills learned from her MSc towards her PhD research. Specifically, methodologies like questionnaire design and participant observation and various analyses (regressions and model building techniques). As Leela continues to work toward her PhD she continues to direct a community-based conservation program called "Lion Guardians", a program that provides employment and education to Maasai warriors to conserve lions through sound science rather than killing them—as was traditionally done. She is working with the Living with Lions project in all aspects of her research and applied conservation projects.

Julia Ferguson is a first year student in the Water Resources Management program, as well as a second year Master’s student in UW-Madison’s Geography Department working with Professor Jim Knox from Geography. Her Master's thesis within Geography focuses on the geomorphology and natural history of a river system in the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin. In the summer of 2007 Julia worked on describing subsurface soil characteristics of her site as well as digging into the natural history of Iowa County's river landscapes. Her research on the East Branch Pecatonica River is part of a larger effort by The Nature Conservancy and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to conserve and restore pieces of land within the Military Ridge Prairie Heritage Area of Iowa and Dane Counties. With the addition of the Water Resources Management degree, Julia hopes to combine her thesis work with knowledge of watershed policy and social dynamics to work with community members on restoration and preservation of their water systems.

Natalie Hunt is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Water Resources Management with Ken Potter from Civil and Environmental Engienering. She completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Iowa, and came to the UW to focus on applying geospatial technology toward watershed management. She participated in the 2007 WRM practicum that took place in New Orleans, LA where the team assessed the feasibility of restoring the Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle to cypress swamp. During the practicum, Natalie filled the role of GIS coordinator where she collaborated with other WRM students on building a geospatial database of both past and present hydrological, geochemical, and ecological conditions of the Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle. This spatial database will be used in future restoration plans for the practicum client, the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association.

Natalie currently works as a project assistant at the Land Information and Computer Graphics Facility where she has assisted on a number of projects including using spatio-temporal GIS as a tool in treating metabolic syndrome in adolescents, providing spatial information for biofuel facility siting across Wisconsin, and the visualization of real-time biophysical data for National Park Service employee safety.

Amy Singler is a second year Water Resources Management student working with Ken Potter from Civil and Environmental Engineering, focusing on river and stream restoration. Before deciding to return to school for a M.S. at the Nelson Institute, Amy worked for the state rivers program in Massachusetts. In that capacity Amy worked statewide with local watershed associations and volunteer groups, managing restoration projects and building local capacity for river protection. Working in Massachusetts, Amy became interested in connecting local groups with managers and technical experts to better guide river restoration on a local level. In Madison, Amy interns at the River Alliance of Wisconsin where she is helping with urban river revitalization efforts on the Root River in Racine. This past summer Amy participated in the WRM Practicum at the Arboretum, working to develop a restoration plan for the Eastern Marshes of the Arboretum. Amy plans to continue work on stream restoration after graduation.