Grants for the 2016 Friends Research Fund were awarded to Emily Burke, Martin Harris and Kieran McCann.
Emily Burke is graduate student in Environmental Education at SOU under Dr. Stewart Janes. Emily will be surveying nocturnal acoustic occupancies, characterizing nest habitats, and analyzing pellets to determine the extent of diet and habitat overlap between great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) and the invasive barred owl (Strix varia) on the Dead Indian Plateau in southwestern Oregon. A greater insight into resource use overlap between the two owl species may suggest a useful means of managing habitat of the great gray owl, a threatened Oregon sensitive species.
Martin Harris and Kieran McCann are both Geology undergraduates at University of Oregon. They will assist Dr. Jad D’Allura, SOU Emeritus Professor of Geology, in completing detailed geologic mapping of rock units and conducting geohydrologic studies in the southern Jenny Creek area within the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Results from this work will increase our understanding of the area’s geologic past, elucidate changes in hydrology in response to climate change, and provide insight into how water resources and mass-wasting events affect ecological processes in the monument.
Look for these student researchers in the Monument! We'll share more about their findings at next year's Community Research Forum.
--Peter Schroeder, Chair of Friends Research Fund
Proposals were read by Dr. Schroeder; Dr. Michael Parker, biologist and SOU faculty member; Christine Beekman, BLM Interpretive Specialist and Krista Harris, pharmacist (ret.) and FCSNM member.
Many thanks to our donors for funding these awards. Give to support the Friends of CSNM education and conservation programs!