Submitted by Mel Baldino on
Restoration and management of lands in the United States often focus on a singular goal. In most cases, that focus is on either biodiversity or carbon sequestration. Even though the management may impact both aspects of the ecosystem, restoration goals and implementation still focus on isolated objectives even within the same regions. A notable dichotomy prevails between habitat restoration, centered on biodiversity and endangered species, and ecosystem functions such as carbon uptake and storage. As a result, we still lack a robust understanding of how restoring for a single aspect of the ecosystem impacts other goals and to what extent diverse objectives can be met by a single restoration effort to achieve a “win-win” outcome for both biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
During the summer component of this project, we will be doing day long field excursions into my study sites in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which are wetlands restored for carbon sequestration. These field days will be spent running trial drone flights, setting up audio recorders, and doing trial point count estimates of bird populations. This is the first field season for the project, so much of the work will be designing and tweaking methods of field sampling to fit the location and our equipment.
The undergraduate will join me for 15 field excursions from June – August (number of days and time frame is negotiable). Work hours will vary based on schedule and weather, but the days will be no longer than 8 hours each from when we leave campus to when we arrive back.
The SPUR student will help setting up the drone, calibrating and setting audio recording equipment, and identifying birds (sight and sound). No previous experience required, but experience identifying some California birds would be beneficial. There is potential, depending on the schedule of the undergraduate and the amount of data we record, for there to be data analysis opportunities later in the summer. This could be done remotely and would involve identifying bird calls on audio recordings, entering data into an Excel sheet, and identifying/tracing birds in drone imagery.
SAFETY NOTE: This work will not require hiking, moving heavy objects, or interacting with animals. However, it will be in the Delta wetlands in the summer. It will likely require many hours in the hot sun. There will be bugs. The chosen undergraduate will participate in the creation of a full safety plan for the summer work before the work begins and will be provided with the resources required to be safe in this environment.
All necessary skills can be learned on the job, but a preferred candidate would have some experience identifying birds by sight and sound. Undergraduate will need to bring hiking boots and appropriate field clothes, but all other necessary equipment will be provided.