Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
Texas A&M University
2258 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-2258
bethsab@tamu.edu
Education:
- Masters of Wildlife Science, Texas A&M University, Distance Education Student, In progress
- 1999-B.S, Biology, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO
Research Interest:
My interests are in avian excotoxicology, avian conservation, and habitat restoration planning. I am a distance education student and a wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Reclamation where I specialize in avian monitoring and research and habitat restoration. For my professional paper I am preparing an ecological risk assessment of neonicotinoid insecticides on the northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) population in the South Texas Plains Ecoregion. The bobwhite is an indicator species of early successional stage habitat and has experienced population declines within the last 30 years. Within the South Texas Plains Ecoregion bobwhites inhabit areas around active agricultural fields where neonicotinoid insecticides are applied. I will quantify the risk that the continued use of neonicotinoid insecticides at its current quantity has on bobwhites in the South Texas Plains Ecoregion. I will incorporate population modeling to examine direct (contaminated media) and indirect effects (reduction in insect prey base) of insecticides on the bobwhite at the population level.