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

• • Will Inghram.  Project:  Effects of captivity on roosting behavior in whooping cranes

    

• • Shawna Jackson.  Impacts of human activity on northern sea otters and harbor seals in Homer, AK

    

Past UWO research students

Graduate

• 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