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Future with Birds

 

I participated in a bird research project with the Research Ornithologist, John Gerwin, at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. I did this research project with two other wildlife biology students from NC State. The research project took place for six weeks. We began our research in the third week of May and finished the last week in June. Our research site was on Bald Knob Ridge Trail in Pisgah National Forest, off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Yancey County, North Carolina. We worked in the mountain range called the Black Mountains. I chose to pursue this research experience because I wanted more experience in the field and better data collection skills. The results from this project present an opportunity for my first publication.

The life of field work has always been unexpected. This field season had unpredicted weather and changes in the field study that I adapted to. I changed my attitude and became more flexible when challenges happened unexpectedly. We had many setbacks in the field and I changed my attitude to deal with these changes from a negative to a positive one. I became a more patient person when it comes to planning out big projects like a research project.

I learned about the importance of research skills for students in wildlife biology. These research skills are important for my future career as a wildlife biologist. I plan on going to graduate school and I need to have research skills to conduct an independent research project. I realized that a graduate research project requires a lot of independence and skills outside of the field, like writing. Grants and publishings of your results are essential to doing a research project. I helped write a grant for this project and learned I need to be a skilled writer to produce results and raise money for research projects.

This experience working on a research project changed my mind about what I want to do after graduation. I want to take a year or two off between graduation and graduate school to gain more experience with research projects. After this summer, I realized I want to spend more time enjoying being out in the field researching birds. Like radio telemetry that I used this summer, there are other specific research skills I want to learn that would make me a better candidate for graduate school. I believe I will enjoy giving myself time to learn more skills instead of looking at graduate school right ahead.

Studying birds is what I want to do in my future career. My experience in this research project became important to me because it gave me an opportunity to pursue my ideal future career.

The project had an impact on me. I learned a lot about the status of breeding birds in North Carolina. I feel better informed with current issues in the forests of NC.   I would have never known about the decline of the Fraser Fur and Eastern Hemlock from the invasive insect called the adelgid.

We made an impact on the community by keeping the members informed about our research. Our lodging for the season was in the Celo community of Yancey County, North Carolina. We got to know many community members of the Celo community and kept them informed on our research. We taught many residents about our study species the Hermit and about the bird life in their area. We showed them about our data collection and methodologies then explained the reasons and importance of our research. We made an impact on the community with public outreach. I felt as if we helped bridge a widening gap between science and the public.