Rigorous quantitative and qualitative research is an important component of academic learning in Environmental Studies. This independent learning opportunity is designed to allow advanced students to delve into real-world research with faculty who are currently engaged in specific projects. The program will help students develop vital skills in research design, data acquisition and interpretation, written and oral communication, collaboration and critical thinking skills—all of which are of particular value for students who are pursuing a graduate degree, as well as for graduates who are already in the job market.

Alison Styring studies birds. Current activity in her lab includes avian bioacoustics and avian monitoring and research in Evergreen’s campus forest and other nearby locations. Bioacoustic research includes field monitoring of local birds using audio recordings and microphone arrays, and editing and identifying avian songs and calls from an extensive collection of sounds from the campus forest as well as tropical forest sites in Borneo. Local research projects in the campus forest and nearby locations include Pacific wren mating and life-history strategy, cavity formation and use by cavity-nesting birds (and other cavity-dependent species), and monitoring long-term trends in bird populations and communities using a variety of standard approaches.