Have you been seeing those black clouds just South of Flagstaff? Have you heard about the horrific wildfires that ravage Southern California? Have you thought lately about the effects of these fires on the environment and those who live in it? That is the focus of our project.
We are analyzing and mapping out data collected from a span of over 10 years on bird communities, and how these environmental disasters and our mitigation efforts are affecting birds. With this data, we can analyze the effectiveness of management activities, and provide a guideline for future efforts to protect our environment and the species within it.
Wildfires have become an increasing concern due to the rise in climate change. As a result, preventative measures should be considered to prevent these natural disasters. A good indicator of ecosystem health is the local population of birds. Receiving data on bird populations, wildfires, and forest management measures will help us to decide which management methods are the most effective, and how often they should be used as to keep habitat destruction to a minimum.
Alyssa Ortiz (Team Leader) - ao994@nau.edu
Andrew Ortega - alo248@nau.edu
Payton Watts - psw35@nau.edu
Tyler Chapp - tjc234@nau.edu
More About UsDr. Jamie Sanderlin - jamie.l.sanderlin@usda.gov
Dr. Ana Miller-ter Kuile - ana.miller-ter-kuile@nau.edu - ana.kuile@usda.gov
Dr. Kiona Ogle - Kiona.Ogle@nau.edu
Our mentor is Scott LaRocca, a current PhD student here at NAU. He has a multitude of experience in connecting data science and nature, and thus provides very important insight to our project.