Beating the bushes in support of graduate student research

It was an interesting, if rather sleepless, summer of fieldwork for three University of North Dakota graduate students in biology.

Jessica Gregory, a master’s degree student from Grand Forks, began her day at 4 a.m. by driving to one of a half-dozen wetland areas she is observing near Jamestown. With hip-waders on, bug repellant applied, and binoculars in hand, she counted every living creature in sight. Later, she conducted water quality tests and plant surveys.

Cory Floden, another master’s student from Perham, Minn., was up and around about the same time to travel to the Lone Tree Wildlife Management Area near Harvey, where he is examining non-game birds in relation to burn strategies used in the past. Among other tasks, he charted the location of birds and personally noted their songs for 12 minutes each.

Anne “Margi” Coyle, a doctoral student from Huntington, Ind., operating from a base near Killdeer, was up early, too. She is halfway through a four-year study of the impact of energy development on golden eagles in the Badlands and Little Missouri grasslands. Many of her observations are made from an aircraft flying over 450 previously located nests.

What these three researchers have in common is a mentoring relationship with a UND faculty member, in this case Richard Crawford, an expert in wildlife ecology and conservation and one of the most productive scholars in one of UND’s most research-oriented departments.

A native of Missouri, Crawford joined the faculty in 1975 after completing his Ph.D. and teaching at Iowa State University. He moved rapidly through the faculty ranks and took on additional responsibilities outside the classroom and lab, including service as department chair and manager of the Institute for Ecological Studies. His spouse Glinda – who shares his intense interest in the environment – is a professor in the Department of Sociology.

But, his colleagues say, it has been in directing student research that Crawford has made his biggest mark at UND. They have often successfully nominated him for UND’s top honors, including the Chester Fritz Distinguished Professorship and Thomas J. Clifford Faculty Achievement Award. Often mentioned is his remarkable ability to find dollars to make the research of graduate students interesting and relevant.

His major funding partners have been the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the State Game and Fish Department. Others include the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust.

The University generally provides laboratory and office space for students, while agencies provide funding for equipment, supplies, stipends, and travel expenses.

In fact, being accepted for supervision by Crawford is an early mark of distinction for a graduate student, says colleague and former department chair Al Fivizzani. It means Crawford believes
he can find the money to cover the cost of the student’s proposed research.

After Crawford receives funding for a project, it is up to the students to take the idea and run with it. “Most often we just paint the white lines and allow the student to take it from there,” he said.

Despite the personal time he invests in guiding student research projects, Fivizzani says, Crawford seldom adds to his own long publications record by listing himself as co-author of articles resulting from the work of his students, although he could appropriately do so.

While many of Crawford’s students have moved on to responsible positions around the world, others who carried out research projects at UND have stayed in the North Dakota/Minnesota area.

“I traveled around the country,” said Gregory, “but came to appreciate the prairie ecosystem because it is so unique and special. I wanted to spend more time here and with my family.”

Coyle agrees: “North Dakota is a great place to study biology, especially out here in the Little Missouri National Grasslands.”

The Department of Biology offers graduate studies leading to the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Students may specialize in ecology, behavior, genetics, physiology, fisheries and wildlife, or systematics.

Bald eagles make a comeback – perhaps with a little help from man?

During the homesteading era in what is now North Dakota, bald eagles were found along the Missouri and Red Rivers, around Devils Lake, and in the Turtle Mountains. With the coming of white settlement, their numbers diminished. Now, migrating from Minnesota, they’re found virtually everywhere in the state, and in numbers that could eventually surpass those of pre-settlement days.

The probable reason: Man-made shelter belts, reservoirs, and wildlife areas. It also appears the birds have begun to change their habits and lifestyles in fundamental ways. It’s a research question begging to be investigated. If he can find the funding, Crawford hopes to turn the investigation over to a graduate student in January.