SKILLS IN DETAIL | portfolio

Skills in Greater Detail

Invasive species management including common carp control studies, that are being used to predict migration patterns of the fish in much larger wetland environments.
Point and Plot Inventory Protocols including Daubenmire and The relevé methods’ for surveying landscapes.
Surveying project areas for protected/endangered species, signs of obvious HAZMAT, and historical sites.
Natural resource inventory of waterfowl habitat In Southern VT and NH. I also searched for eagle’s nests in project areas and coordinated the capture and identification of samples during a fish salvage project in Coastal Oregon.
I am confident when keying out trees of the Pacific Northwest and New England by their bark alone.
Identification of the samples using synaptic keys in which I found a threatened frog species in a wetland, thus needing further study. I also located protected target plant species in an area of potential development. Tallied, measured, and tagged amphibians, building upon studies that provide over a decades’ worth of data on dispersal of frogs in Central Oregon.
Perform wetland delineations in order to meet Army Corp of Engineers guidelines for federally funded highway projects.
Stream-bank restoration, remove obstacles and noxious weeds from habitat ideally suited to support fish and wildlife.
Habitat renewal, to provide better forage areas, for pronghorn and sage grouse.

From my time as a social worker I learned the value of clear, concise, and objective technical writing. These concepts I use each time I develop a course curriculum.
Curriculum design for undergraduate freshman level science classes.
Since I was a teenager in a lousy garage band, I have worked to improve my songwriting and storytelling. While those early works may be lost forever (I kind of hope so) what I lacked in originality back then I made up for in authenticity. Now after finishing my first novel in the Autumn of 2011 and re-editing my second (which is nearly done) I am returning to the medium where my creativity finally jumped out of me as an angry young man and am writing songs again.

In Autumn of 2012 I began looking into alternative methods of communicating science and what I have found shocked me...

There is great research that has been done and is continuing to be studied around the world that shows a strong Correlation between teaching science through literature and or other creative texts and greater retention and overall conceptual understanding of the material.
That the US has not been studying this except as a means of educating children who are nearing "lost cause" status.
Therefore I was excited that I was asked by Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) to communicate the science that informs the Refuge's Aquatic Health Management Plan in a form that is easily understandable by a general audience.
In Autumn of 2012 I created my first science teaching game. I just finished my third. The Game of Conservation Biology: Oasis in Peril, and have given the idea to MNWR as a further tool in reaching out to the community.