Principal Investigator:  Dr. M. Elsbeth (Misty) McPhee

Environmental Studies Program and Department of Biology
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
800 Algoma Blvd.
Oshkosh, WI 54901
Ph. 920-424-0644
email: mcpheem@uwosh.edu

Curriculum Vitae

I am currently a Full Professor of environmental science and wildlife conservation at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  I received my degree from the University of Michigan after which I was a research biologist in the Galapagos Islands studying the Galapagos mockingbird and was then a Research Associate at Cornell University leading field research on Syrian hamsters in southern Turkey.  I joined UWO’s facultyin 2009 and teach several courses focused on sustainability and am associated with the University’s Sustainability Institute for Regional Transformation.  I am also a member of the Whooping Crane Reintroduction Team and conduct research designed to increase the success of the whooping crane reintroduction program in Wisconsin.

Current graduate students

Unfortunately, due to budget and time constraints, I am not taking new graduate students at the moment.

Past UWO research students

Graduate

• Shawna Jackson
  • Thesis:  Influence of human attitudes and activities on sea otter and harbor seal behavior.  Defended 29 April 2025.
  • Current position:
    • Lab manager
    • Berylium9
    • Homer, Alaska
• Will Inghram
  • Thesis: Effects of captivity on roosting behavior in the endangered whooping crane (Grus americana). Defended18 April 2025.
  • Current position:
    • Instructor
    • Iowa Central Community College
    • Fort Dodge, IA
• Sarah Woody
  • Thesis:  Assessment of heavy metals and metalloids in sediment, cattail root, and muskrat tissue at Horicon Marsh.  Defended 22 April 2022.
  • Video on Sarah’s research 
  • Current position:
    • Biologist
    • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office
    • Green Bay, WI
• Kasey Gondek  
  • Thesis:  Causes of mortality in whooping crane chicks on the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.  Defended 15 May 2020.
  • Video on Kasey’s research
  • Current position:
    • Biological Science Technician
      US Fish and Wildlife Service, Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery

      Leavenworth, WA 
      https://www.fws.gov/staff-profile/kasey-gondek
• Matthew Gondek
  • Thesis:  Habitat use of cranes outside of the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.  Defended 17 April 2020.
  • Current position:
    • Biological Information Systems Specialist
    • US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region (6)
    • Sandy, Oregon
• Paige Smith.  Thesis: Assessing levels of methylmercury in the endangered whooping crane.  Defended 24 April 2018.
• Christy Sadowski.  Thesis:  Effects of captivity on behavior in the endangered whooping crane.  Defended 1 December 2016.
• Amaranta Kozuch.  Thesis: Effects of a complex versus simple rearing environment on reintroduction success.  Defended  18 May 2012.
• Brittney Wiggins.  Thesis: Effects of predator training on reintroduction success.  Defended  11 May 2012.

Undergraduate

• Megan Voelker, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Honors Thesis:  Anisogamy and anti-vaccination attitudes, 2021.
• Phillip Gruber,  University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Honors Thesis:  Effects of anthropogenic noise on bird-feeder communities, 2017.
• Mara Obermeier,  University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Honors Thesis:  Assessing students’ knowledge of and attitudes toward food on campus, 2017.
• Michael Sadowski, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.  Project:  Correlating habitat use to predation events in the whooping crane, 2016.
• Cassandra Fowler, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project:  Quantifying the presence of invasive species at the Pope Lake State Natural Area, 2016.
• Sarah Szabo, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project:  Quantifying the presence of invasive species at the Pope Lake State Natural Area, 2016.
• Naomi Reigh, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project:  Quantifying the presence of invasive species at the Pope Lake State Natural Area, 2016.
• Becky Malin, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project:  Grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) tail flicking in relation to possession of resources, 2015.
• Laura Sullivan, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  McNair Scholarship Program:  Effects of noise on behavior in captive river otters, 2015.
• Christina Mulder, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project:  Characterizing stream health in the Pope Lake State Natural Area, 2015.
• Laine Havens, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project:  Characterizing stream health in the Pope Lake State Natural Area, 2015.
• Erin Hasz, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Behavioral differences between mice coated in a fluorescent powder and natural colored mice:  Implications for use of powder in research, 2014.
• Brady Robinson, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Are mice coated in a fluorescent powder more vulnerable to predation than natural colored mice?, 2014.
• Lucas Schulz, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Pilot study of microbial gut diversity of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) born in captivity as compared to those caught in the wild, 2014.
• Kenneth Sanderson, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Meadow vole responses to varying predator cues, 2014.
• Jennifer Jackson, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Honor’s Thesis:   The viability of permaculture as an alternative farming method in Wisconsin, 2014.
• Sara Hagedorn, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: The relationship between stereotypic behaviors and bold personality in captive meadow voles, 2012
• Korin Franklin, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, McNair Scholarship program.  Project: Effects of captivity on hormonal expression and breeding in the meadow vole, summer 2011
• Suzanne Hietpas, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Response of wild-caught voles to a complex lab environment, Summer 2010
• Emily Fisher, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Response of wild-caught voles to a novel environment, Summer 2010
• Diana Cartier, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Response of wild-caught voles to a visual predator stimulus, Summer 2010
• Danielle Voss,University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Response of wild-caught voles to predator vocalizations, Summer 2010
• Sara Hagedorn, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Response of wild-caught voles to a novel environment, Summer 2010
• Kristen Maples, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.  Project: Foraging behavior in wild-caught voles, Summer 2010