Meet the student researchers

Dan Gibson

I am working on a project that explores seasonal drivers of pintail population dynamics. Identifying the environmental conditions associated with trends in, as well as developing unbiased estimates of, breeding abundance are prerequisites for effective waterfowl management. Critically, as the resources used to manage waterfowl populations are finite, population models that integrate multiple and partially redundant sources of information can be used to provide insights into the specific parts of the annual cycle that are the most sensitive to shifts in habitat conditions, as well as correct for potential biases that may be used to improve the efficiency of management actions and our general understanding of how waterfowl interact with their environment.

Northern pintail are a species of management concern due to their decades-long decline in midcontinent North America. However, despite relatively restrictive bag limits and perceived increases in the breeding abundances of other waterfowl species in the Prairies, pintail populations have not appreciably improved. Our work is focused on gaining a better understanding of how habitat conditions have varied among breeding and wintering regions since the 1960s, and ultimately, how trends in seasonal habitat conditions were linked to variation in survival and duck production. We are integrating extensive banding data throughout the breeding areas with banding efforts during migration and on the wintering areas to develop a full life cycle model that allows for inference into the timing and cause of mortality, which will provide a unique opportunity to prioritize conservation investments—where and when—to develop plans that demonstrably increase survival and/or reproductive success.

Kayla Davis

I am a postdoctoral researcher working on a project to evaluate the demography and movement ecology of Midcontinent lesser snow geese. Snow geese have experienced extreme variation in their population trends in past decades and have been in a period of rapid decline since the 2010s.

While some subpopulation dynamics are well-studied, a population-wide approach can help place the effects of local subpopulation dynamics within the context of the full Midcontinent population. I am using multiple data types to develop an integrated metapopulation model for five subpopulations of Midcontinent snow geese to estimate subpopulation-specific estimates of survival, productivity, population size, and movement rates among subpopulations, as well as the effects of environmental variation on these demographics. The results of this holistic modeling framework are expected to inform both subpopulation and metapopulation-level management decisions for this species, as well as provide insight into the effects of future environmental variation on population dynamics.

I recently received my PhD from Michigan State University under the supervision of Dr. Elise Zipkin. My dissertation work focused on developing and applying statistical methods to understand the demographic and environmental drivers that shape avian populations and communities. I am broadly interested in using novel statistical tools to understand how global change is expected to affect the distributions and demography of bird populations and communities.

Elisa Elizondo

I have a broad background in avian ecology, including demographic modeling, population genomics, and movement ecology. I completed my PhD at the University of Delaware, where my dissertation focused on king and clapper rail. My research is focused on applied conservation/management outcomes and ranges from topics such as using Motus to study movement ecology of species-at-risk bats in Ontario, deploying GPS transmitters to study American woodcock survival, and range wide genetic connectivity in clapper rail.

My post doc is focused primarily on two projects. For the first, I am working on mourning dove population modeling in Missouri in partnership with the Missouri Department of Conservation. This project aims to development a quantitative framework to help manage dove populations within the Central Flyway. In addition to investigating the role harvest may play in Missouri dove population dynamics, we will also identify more strategic designs for monitoring efforts such as banding. My second project will focus on building a modeling framework to study the population dynamics of barnacle goose wintering in Ireland.

Ilsa Griebel

For my PhD research, I am working on American black ducks, an eastern North American species that is highly valued by hunters and a flagship species for Atlantic tidal marshes. Populations decreased by 50 per cent between the 1950s and 1980s, and although populations in the Atlantic Flyway have now stabilized, they have never recovered to historic levels.

I am working with federal and state collaborators in the Atlantic Flyway to deploy 500 state-of-the-art tracking devices on black ducks during winter. The devices will collect both location and acceleration data, which I will use to quantify movements and use of wetlands during the breeding season, develop detailed time activity budgets of behaviour, determine previously unknown reproductive metrics in the boreal breeding area, and quantify drivers of reproductive metrics during the breeding season and throughout the full annual cycle.

I grew up on a farm near Saskatoon. I was fascinated by nature, particularly birds, from a young age. Beside insatiable curiosity, I am driven by a desire to make a positive impact on conservation and ensure future generations can enjoy all the amazing creatures and landscapes that have filled my life.

Alex Beath

My PhD project aims to answer longstanding ecological questions about the midcontinent subpopulation of greater white-fronted geese. In recent decades these birds have demonstrated a pronounced shift in where they choose to spend the winter, immigrating north-east in large numbers from the Gulf Coast marshes of Texas and Louisiana to the flooded rice pastures of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. This marked shift in wintering distribution raises important questions surrounding the energetic and fitness consequences of animal decision-making, and the drivers behind such mass movement.

As part of a highly collaborative, continent-spanning effort, my research involves deploying neck-mounted GPS-acceleration collars on female midcontinent individuals on their wintering grounds across the south-central United States. By taking advantage of the cell-network, these collars upload movement and behavioural data in real-time, and these data will form a large part of the analyses of my project. We hope that this research will assist conservation planners in making targeted, effective conservation efforts, and inform the field of movement ecology as a whole.

I grew up in England, in the Welsh-border county of Shropshire, and have had a deep interest in birds my entire life. I moved to Saskatoon in January 2024 to pursue this PhD opportunity and am very grateful to be beginning life in Canada supported by such a fantastic team of ecologists.

Kelsie Huss

For my graduate research project, I’m comparing the movements, behaviour, survival and reproductive success of mid-continent mallards using four different attachment techniques (single harness, double harness, sub-dermal, and implants), relative to those from birds fitted with leg band geolocators (light sensors). I also will design simulations that allow us to understand how many tracking devices are needed and the optimal collection frequencies of GPS and behavioural data to aid future practitioners in designing research about movements and behaviour of migratory birds. This project is an international partnership with Canadian Wildlife Service, Delta Waterfowl Foundation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

I was born and raised in Ohio but spent the past four years completing my undergraduate degree at Principia College in Illinois. While there, I had the privilege of studying the foraging behavior of downy woodpeckers, bobwhite quail, and green sea turtles. Even though I’m completely new to the world of waterfowl, I’m incredibly excited to expand my knowledge on mallards and explore the multitude of variables which influence avian behaviour at individual and group levels.

Paul Zeitz

For my MSc research, I will be investigating the habitat use, movements and behaviour of midcontinent greater white-fronted geese to develop a full annual cycle model and better understand variation in reproductive success. This work leverages years of GPS and acceleration (behavioural) data, collected from collars deployed on birds in the southern United States. Midcontinent white-fronts breed in the central and western Arctic, and winter from Kansas to Texas and Mississippi, interacting with a variety of environmental conditions throughout the year. I will connect movements and behaviour throughout the year on subsequent reproductive success. Information from this work will be used to guide conservation investments in habitats on staging and wintering areas that improve productivity on breeding areas.

I was born and raised in Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. I am grateful for a diverse range of previous experiences. These include managing a ward in a wildlife hospital, nest searching on the Alaskan north slope, and deploying autonomous recording units to detect a species of concern. I have had a constant interest in the natural world my entire life and I feel incredibly lucky to contribute to the legacy of waterfowl research in this position.