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Presentation:
Biggest Threat to Migratory Birds
Program Presented by: Joelle
Gehring
Dr. Joelle Gehring is program
leader for zoology at Michigan Natural Features Inventory in
Lansing and adjunct faculty in the Biology Department at Central
Michigan University in Mount Pleasant. She designed and
currently oversees a multi-year, landscape-scale study of the
variables associated with bird collisions at communication
towers.
Research results will provide
information on methods to reduce bird collisions with
communication towers. Dr. Gehring collaborates with the Michigan
State Police, Michigan’s Office of the Attorney General,
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Forest
Service, Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal
Communications Commission to accomplish this research.
Dr. Gehring is particularly
interested in avian ecology, wildlife responses to human-induced
changes in the landscape, and determining methods of reducing
wildlife-human conflicts. She believes that many human-related
issues potentially affecting wildlife populations can and should
be addressed in a scientific and integrated manner.
Dr. Gehring completed her Ph.D.
in wildlife ecology at Purdue University in 2003. Her research
focused on the flight patterns and behavior of red-tailed hawks
in forested and agricultural habitats with direct implications
and application to reducing bird-aircraft collisions via flight
behavior models and a U.S. Air Force Bird Avoidance Model.
She earned her master’s degree
in wildlife and fisheries resources at West Virginia University
in 1997. The topic of her research was the assessment of
wildlife habitat quality in central Appalachian hardwood forests
following three timber harvest techniques. Her bachelor’s degree
was earned in 1993, in both biology and wildlife management, at
the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Dr. Gehring has a beautiful
6-year-old son, Forrest, who shares her interest in conservation
and nature.
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