WyoPanama 1.0 (January 2019)
In January 2019, five University of Wyoming undergraduates joined two instructors on the inaugural year of the course. Because the teaching assistant may change from year to year, this list also includes our brilliant and fearless teaching assistant, Laura Gomez-Murillo (currently a graduate student at University of Wyoming in the lab of Dr. Corey Tarwater in the Department of Zoology and Physiology).
REBECCA FRANKE
I am from Stillwater, Minnesota and am in my sophomore year at the University of Wyoming. My major is in Wildlife Biology and Fisheries Management, with a minor in the Honors Program. I have always had a passion for science and the outdoors, but having the opportunity to lead my own research project in high school helped me realize that I wanted to pursue research as a career. I am currently working the labs of Dr. Kelley (where I am a Wyoming Research Scholar) and in Dr. Corey Tarwater’s lab, where I have learned many of the important aspects of experimental ecology and analysis. During the field course in Panama, I investigated foraging ecology and antipredator behavior of army ant-following birds. I returned to Panama to continue this work in Summer 2019 and am developing new technology and methods to study this next field season. |
TANNER WARDER
I am a University of Wyoming undergraduate. For my independent research project, I will be examining impacts different kinds of territorial intrusion (male alone, female alone, male & female combined) on the territorial behavior of birds. I conducted over 60 field playback experiments and am currently transcribing these data. In Spring 2020, I will be working with Dr. Kelley to analyze the data and prepare the results for submission to a scientific journal. |
LINDSEY WALDEN
I grew up in Bozeman, Montana and currently am an undergraduate at University of Wyoming where I am studying Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management, with a minor in Environmental Natural Resources. Growing up in Montana, I’ve always had a passion for the outdoors; this is a big reason I chose my field of study. I am an avid outdoors type of gal and enjoy family camping and hunting trips. As I have progressed in my studies, I have developed an interest in working for the Wyoming Fish and Game where I would like to promote wildlife conservation. During the WyoPanama course, I investigated light characteristics of the tropical forest understory and also studied foraging behavior of army ant-following birds. |
NATE BARRUS
I’m from Worland Wyoming. This is where my dad got me excited about the outdoors and science. I’m an undergraduate at the University of Wyoming and pursuing a major in Zoology and minor in Statistics. I’m passionate about fish and hope to become a researcher of freshwater fishes. I currently work in Dr. Frank Rahel's lab looking at food web dynamics in major tributaries of the North Platte River. In Panama, I investigated behavioral responses of fish to piscivorous ("fish-eating") birds. I also developed a study to examine perch-site selection in piscivorous birds in related to pool characteristics (i.e. water flow, depth, above canopy cover) and bird traits (body mass). In Spring 2020, I will be working with Dr. Kelley to analyze the data and prepare the results for submission to a scientific journal. |
NICK KING
I am an undergraduate at the University of Wyoming, where I am working on a Senior thesis that involves a meta-analysis of biocontrol methods used in the state of Wyoming and the surrounding region. In Panama, I conducted research on how flight behavior in Morpho butterflies correlates with predation risk. I designed artificial models of Morpho butterflies and thenrecruited the rest of the WyoPanama team to help me construct >100 models for field deployment. I monitored these model for signs of predator attacks every two days. |