Current Projects
Wild Turkey Ecology in Western Nebraska
Improving our understanding of wild turkey ecology including nesting ecology, movements, resource selection, genetics, survival, and gobbling chronology.
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Precision Livestock Management on Extensive Rangelands
Optimizing grazing strategies to benefit ranchers, cattle, and wildlife.
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Improving Midwestern Agriculture’s Environmental, Social, and Economic Footprint with Prairie Strips
Expanding the footprint of prairie strips.
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Bioenergy Crop Production: Implications for Grassland Bird Communities
Establishing effective conservation strategies for grassland bird communities in bioenergy production systems while maximizing productivity of the agricultural landscape.
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Identifying and Prioritizing Pheasant Habitat in Agricultural Landscapes
Identifying and prioritizing habitat for pheasant conservation and management in agriculturally dominated landscapes.
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White-tailed Deer Fawn Survival in North Georgia
Deer populations continue to decline in the North Georgia Mountains while interest in improving overall ecosystem health increases. This research aims to improve our understanding of the factors negatively influencing deer population growth. This research will guide adjustments in deer management efforts and help improve overall deer populations for future generations.
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Constraints to Precision Conservation Adoption
New precision technologies and frameworks offer potential solutions to optimize agricultural production while also promoting sustainable agriculture and natural resource conservation on today's agricultural landscapes. The AWESM lab is currently trying to understand the constraints to precision technology and program adoption in order to create a more profitable and sustainable agricultural system within Nebraska.
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Pronghorn Spatial Ecology in Nebraska
Monitoring pronghorn in western Nebraska to better understand their movement and resource selection, identify migration corridors and critical habitat, and evaluate adult survival and spatiotemporal distribution across an agriculturally-dominant landscape.
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Increase Farm Profitability While Conserving Soil, Water, and Wildlife
Addressing conservation challenges and opportunities in intensive agriculture landscapes through precision conservation.
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White-tailed deer spatial ecology during hunting season in Nebraska
A knowledge gap currently exists in our understanding of deer movements and resource selection prior to, during, and post rifle season in Nebraska. This information will be critical to land managers and biologists interested in improving deer management in highly fragmented agricultural landscapes.
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Habitat Selection for Territorial Male Pheasants
Investigating territory selection in male ring-necked pheasants across the Nebraska landscape and the potential relationship to areas of farmland enrolled in CRP.
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Effects of human hunter movement and habitat use on observation rate of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Examining hunter movement, site selection and prey observations to delineate the relationship between hunter behavior and deer observation success.
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Spatial Ecology of White-tailed Deer and Hunters in North Georgia
With continually declining deer populations in the North Georgia Mountains, this research aims to improve our understanding of white-tailed deer and deer hunter use of the landscape to help guide future deer management efforts.
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Wildlife Space Use in an Agricultural Landscape
This study will examine wildlife movements and habitat selection in Nebraska agricultural landscapes. The purpose of this study is to examine GPS spatial and temporal data on wildlife home ranges, movements, and habitat selection, specifically data points collected from GPS-collared deer, red-tailed hawks, and one bobcat.
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