EDUCATION:

University of Montana - Bachelor of Science--Wildlife Biology 2004

Flathead Valley Community College - 68 Semester Hours--Wildlife Biology 2002

Barstow Community College 1997-- 6 Semester Hours--Management

Using Demographic and Landscape Analysis to Guide Conservation Planning for Common Loons in Montana

Objectives:
The goals of my research are to estimate carrying capacity for the Common Loon in Montana and examine the effects of landscape change on its population. The specific objectives are (1) to create a landscape of suitable habitat in a geographic information system (GIS), (2) to create spatially explicit habitat models using predictor variables associated with chick survival and fecundity, (3) to test predictions on independent data, and (4) to simulate response under various landscape treatments.

Progress:
This summer we captured and banded 24 new birds which raised our total marked population to 154. These birds represent 38 of the less than 70 known territories. Territories range from just south of Eureka, in northwest Montana, to near Ovando, east of Missoula. Two new territories were discovered; Finger Lake north of Whitefish and Summit Lake just off the Swan Highway. We recovered a banded breeding female near her nest on Island Lake (cause of death unknown). Also, a juvenile originally captured on Dickey Lake last year was found near Santa Cruz, California in poor health. It was rehabilitated and released in the northeastern part of San Francisco Bay. We recovered an unbanded adult on Cedar Creek Reservoir while searching for a banded female that disappeared when her chick was less than two weeks old. We began building a GIS landscape and establishing collection protocol for habitat measurements for nearly 700 lakes in northwest Montana. This summer we also began collecting data on the number of fledged young per territorial pair. In addition, last fall we captured and implanted satellite transmitters in 4 Common Loons in cooperation with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe.