Selected Projects
Barrington Greenways Initiative Adaptive Management
Development of an adaptive management program to improve the speed and success of habitat restoration. Conduct both quantitative transect surveys and qualitative rapid assessments to track changes in management sites over time. Collaborate closely with stewards and land managers to adjust management strategies according to monitoring results.
Deer Grove Science and Adaptive Management
Working with volunteers, restoration contractors, and non-profit organizations to conduct monitoring, incorporate the results into management planning, and perform on-site research that informs and improves best management practices.
Tall Goldenrod Management Study
Experimental tests of the effectiveness of commonly used management techniques to control aggressive Tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima), in collaboration with site stewards.
Watersmeet Preserve Adaptive Management
Worked with volunteers and land management staff to conduct wildlife and vegetation monitoring within a new management area, in order to track changes over time, incorporate the results into management planning, and support citizen science leadership.
Chicago Wilderness Woods Audit
Designed and implemented systematic vegetation sampling across protected woodlands in five counties to provide a measure of woodland health in the region. With staff and volunteers of Audubon Chicago Region and the Illinois Natural History Survey, 2003.
Amphibian Habitat Restoration
Developed and implemented management that restored ecosystem health and amphibian habitat within and around ephemeral ponds of the Forest Preserves of Cook County. With staff and volunteers of John G. Shedd Aquarium, 2015.
Shrubland Bird Habitat Study
Combined research with restoration to provide habitat for shrubland birds while testing (and confirming) the viability of mowing patches into buckthorn thickets as a cost-effective restoration strategy. With staff and volunteers of Audubon Chicago Region, Forest Preserves of Cook County, and Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, 2003.
Chicago Wilderness Grassland Audit
Designed and implemented systematic vegetation and bird sampling across protected grasslands in six counties to assess grassland habitat in the region. With staff and volunteers of Audubon Chicago Region, 2005.
Village of Wilmette Native Landscape Management
Advise village staff on the control of invasive species and promotion of healthy, native pollinator habitat within native plant gardens as part of the village’s Edens Pollinator Corridor Project.
Community Planting of Lakefront Bird Habitat
Secured grant funding and organized 250 community volunteers to plant nearly 20,000 plants across six acres of former lawn at Gillson Park in Wilmette, IL, to create habitat for migrating birds. Organized ongoing bird monitoring to document habitat use. With Living Habitats, the Wilmette Park District, and the Ouilmette Foundation, 2016.
Data Analysis, Tinley Creek Wetland Bird Habitat
Developed monitoring protocols and analyzed data collected by field personnel to determine plant species composition of areas used by grassland birds within a newly-restored wetland complex. With Openlands, Living Habitats, and the Forest Preserves of Cook County, 2017.
Cook County Land Audit
Designed and implemented systematic vegetation sampling within priority conservation lands of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, in order to measure restoration progress and identify resource needs. With staff and volunteers of Audubon Chicago Region, the Forest Preserves of Cook County, and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, 2007.
Conservation Designs
Led a Chicago Wilderness coalition to develop Conservation Designs for grassland birds, oak woodlands, and savannah herpetofauna within the Chicago Wilderness region. With staff and volunteers of Audubon Chicago Region and Chicago Wilderness, 2002.