Fellowship recipient studies endangered shorebird

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research 1:14 Fellowship recipient studies endangered shorebird

By:

Clark Dehart

12 Dec 2023 379

Max Nootbar is a student in the College of Natural Resources and Environment. He received an undergraduate research fellowship to complete data analysis on piping plovers–an endangered shorebird species.

I knew I wanted to study birds when I came to Tech as a wildlife conservation major. And the Karpanty Lab, the Shorebird Program, does a lot of bird research. Michaela, a Phd student in the lab, came to me with an undergraduate research project studying piping plovers. Basically piping plovers, they're an imperiled shorebird species that nests throughout the East Coast down to Virginia. And they're currently in the mid Atlantic region undergoing declines and we're not exactly sure what is causing that. My project is basically looking at how the piping plovers nesting in Virginia are connected with their wintering grounds, as well as other breeding sites throughout the mid Atlantic region to see how they're connected. The CNRE Undergraduate Research Fellowship has helped me a lot because with this funding, I've been able to be paid for my research. And I was also able to receive funding to attend The Wildlife Society's annual conference and I was able to present my findings and my research there. My research is contributing to a broader effort to understand what exactly is going on with piping plovers in the mid Atlantic region. I may be publishing my research as a note in a scientific journal in the spring semester.

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