Project initiated in summer of 2009. We monitored hens as they nested and raised broods to provide information to private landowners regarding habitat preference. The Sandhills has a 'core' population of Greater Prairie-chickens in North America. Funding: NGPC

Project initiated in summer of 2008. Drew Tyre and I co-support Tim Hiller, who is using rural mailcarrier surveys from Nebraska to investigate the role that Farm Bill programs play to support wildlife habitat. Funding: national NRCS CEAP program.

This project was based at Iowa State University, directed by Dr. Steve Dinsmore. Joel Jorgensen (NGPC) and I were co-PI's. We investigated the breeding biology and distribution of curlews--using a series of surveys and radio-telemetry. The project is based at Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge in western NE. USGS photo by A. Wilson. Funding: NGPC State Wildlife Grant

Field work initiated in spring of 2008. I collaborated with Dr. Craig Allen and Keith Hobson (Environment Canada). We investigated productivity on 3 National Park sites in the Great Plains, and we evaluated the use of isotope variability to assess productivity. Funding: National Park Service.

Field work initiated in fall of 2007. I collaborated with Dr. Felipe Chavez-Ramirez of the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust in Nebraska. We investigated the portion of the sandhill cranes' wintering grounds in northern Mexico. The habitat is very dry and relatively little is known regarding the cranes' diet, activities, and fidelity to this wintering area. The research is conducted in collaboration with local agencies and CIBNOR in Mexico.

Project initiated in fall of 2006. Dr. Drew Tyre and I collaborated with Dr. Viviane Henaux. She investigated the use of stable isotopes to determine prior locations of snow geese collected after cholera outbreaks. Funding: UNL Population Ecology Program of Excellence and the UNL Research Council. Collaborators include Keith Hobson (Environment Canada), Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, USFWS, and several state agencies (and Ducks Unlimited).

Study completed during 2005-2008. Ducks have been anecdotally reported to nest in "odd" upland habitat in the Sandhills-far from any wetland area. I collaborated with Mark Vrtiska (NGPC), Scott Stephens (DU), and Johann Walker (DU). We used decoy traps to radio-mark hen mallards and follow them to their nest sites. We monitored productivity, estimated survival from mark-recapture data, and we modeled nest survival as a function of landscape variables. Funding: NGPC.

Project initiated in summer of 2005, with co-PIs Scott Taylor and Jeff Lusk (NGPC) and Drew Tyre (UNL). The pheasant project was located in a CRP-rich landscape in Stanton County, NE. The prairie-chicken project was located in Johnson County, NE. We radio-marked hens, monitored subsequent nests, and determined locations of nests and broods. The projects assessed the importance of Farm Bill programs in management. Funding: NGPC P&R funds.

Project initiated in fall of 2005, under the direction of Felipe Chavez-Ramirez, of the Platte River Whooping Crane Trust. The study consists of nest monitoring, point count surveys and occupancy modeling, and diet studies to learn more about the Blue-headed Quail-dove (endangered species), as well as other quail-doves at the reserve. The Blue-headed Quail-dove is a secretive species, with very low detection rates--so, not much is known about its distribution or biology.

Project initiated in summer of 2006. I collaborated with Dr. Walter Schacht in UNL's Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. We used surveys, nest monitoring, and radio-telemetry to assess the relationship between vegetation structure, water resources, and bird community structure. Photo by Scott Groepper shows a bull snake at a nest. Funding: Burlington Northern Endowment, NGPC State Wildlife Grant.

Project initiated in summer of 2004. The Niobrara River Valley has incredible diversity. Eastern red cedars were removed by the Nature Conservancy in an attempt to restore the oak savannah system. We assessed how the removal of this native, but invasive, tree species affected the community of birds using the sites. Funding: NPS and NGPC State Wildlife Grant.

My participation, working with data analysis, on this project began in 2002. My grad-school friend and colleague from Iowa State, Dan Varland, has been banding peregrine falcons along beaches on the Washington coast since 1995. His data set from surveys of re-sighted and recaptured birds provides survival rates of a unique population of falcons using coastal beach habitat--mostly in the winter. Photo of banded peregrine eating a sanderling on a beach by Dan Varland.