Kerry Reider '16

Kittatinny Ridge Ecological Monitoring Project

Major/minor: Environmental Science 
Hometown: Easton, PA
Project mentors: Dr. Diane Husic

Project Details:

1. Briefly describe your SOAR project.
   We did bird surveys on the Kittatinny Ridge, which included bird watching and recording all of the birds and bird species that we saw and heard. We also did habitat assessments at the locations that we did our bird surveys. This basically gave us an idea of how healthy the environment was and what kind of plant life was in the area.
    
2. What motivated you to participate in SOAR? 
   We did bird surveys on the Kittatinny Ridge, which included bird watching and recording all of the birds and bird species that we saw and heard. We also did habitat assessments at the locations that we did our bird surveys. This basically gave us an idea of how healthy the environment was and what kind of plant life was in the area.
    
3. What are the results of your work on this project? 
   We do not have any final results on this project because we still need more time to compare and analyze the habitat assessments and the bird surveys to see how they correlate with each other. This was only year one of the project. We are hoping to continue it over the years with myself and other students.
    
4. What are your personal takeaways from the project? And do you plan to continue work on this project after SOAR? 
   My personal takeaways are that I learned all of the bird calls and what all of the different bird species look like. I also learned how to identify all the different plant and tree species. Throughout this project we explored much of the Kittatinny Ridge, which was a great experience for me. I do plan to continue working on this project after SOAR and hopefully we will come to some conclusions.

Biographical Information:

1. What clubs/sports/activities/community service are you involved in? 
   I am in the C3 Club, ECO club and Habitat for Humanity
    
2. Have you received any awards/recognitions here? 
   I was on the Dean’s List
    
3. Briefly, what are your future plans and career goals? 
   I am planning on getting a job dealing with Wildlife Conservation and forest and waterway preservation. Specifically dealing with endangered animals. I would really like to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.