Get to know Connor
Please describe the INR-funded or affiliated project(s) you are currently working on?
Conservation Biology, Klamath-Siskiyou Carnivore Project
What are your primary responsibilities/roles of your research position?
I primarily digitize track plates from the Klamath-Siskiyou Carnivore Project to advance conservation records and identification processes. I also validate the identifications of species in wildlife camera traps for the Klamath-Siskiyou Carnivore Project and the Oregon Kit Fox project.
What have you learned or hope to learn from this experience? Have you gained any new skills?
I have been developing keen mammal identification skills, as well as the ability to differentiate animal tracks. I have obtained a greater understanding of data management on a large, long-term scale and I have become acquainted with a few web platforms that are furthering wildlife conservation goals.
I hope to learn more about the intricacies of project management and to become acquainted with new methods of field work such as wildlife camera deployment, sample collection, and data analysis.
What are your academic and/or career aspirations after graduation?
Following my graduation from Portland State University I will be pursuing graduate studies in ecology. My hope is to establish myself as an ecologist at an academic institution where I can investigate community dynamics and ecosystem health to inform environmental restoration and climate change mitigation for the conservation of wildlife.
What's your favorite way to use or interact with the natural world?
I enjoy aimlessly wandering through a habitat and greeting all of the life I see. I especially love wading in a stream or estuary.