Field Inclusive, Inc.

Experience Reflection: Kassandra Townsend

“Receiving the Field Inclusive Research Award allowed me to pay for a technician to help me in the last few weeks of my field season… The technician I hired for the last few weeks was Matt Poole; he has worked with me in the past and has proven to be a competent early-career scientist. Having the ability to hire someone to assist me in the field allowed me to get more done that I could have and provided relevant field experience for Matt as well. “

BY KASSANDRA TOWNSEND

My research in the Chiricahua mountains in Southeastern Arizona focuses on the importance of understanding different habitat characteristics that may influence microclimates, owl distribution, and occupancy of cavity nesters within a diverse and unique ecosystem. Collecting data to understand these habitat characteristics requires a lot of field work, not only during the day, but also at night for surveys and banding of owls. Throughout the summer, we utilize citizen scientists from the Earthwatch Institute to help in the field, however, these expeditions are only 8-days long. There can be multiple weeks where I am alone in the field, I can complete my work by myself, but having a technician allows me to get more done in less time.

In previous years, I was a graduate student mentor for the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program (DDCSP). This is a two-year research program that provided one year of experience working as a technician with a graduate student, then a second year working with an agency of interest. As an undergraduate student, I was part of the DDCSP and it was very impactful on me and I wanted to continue to be a part of the program in my graduate degree. This provided me with help in the field but also the ability to provide opportunities to undergraduate students to gain field work and research experience. Unfortunately, this program has ended, which left me without funding for field technicians. I found it difficult to find funding to support a technician until I came across the Field Inclusive Research Award.

Receiving the Field Inclusive Research Award allowed me to pay for a technician to help me in the last few weeks of my field season. During this time, we are collecting 33 temperature loggers from tree cavities, 25 SD cards from acoustic monitoring units, and checking 61 different cavities for occupancy to wrap up the season. The technician I hired for the last few weeks was Matt Poole; he has worked with me in the past and has proven to be a competent early-career scientist. Having the ability to hire someone to assist me in the field allowed me to get more done that I could have and provided relevant field experience for Matt as well. I asked Matt if he could provide a reflection of his own for his time in the field, and I think he provided a great summary of the impact that the Field Inclusive Research Award had on him:

“Hello, my name is Matt Poole. I am an early-career ornithologist. Earlier this year, in July, I had the pleasure of joining and helping Kassandra Townsend with her PhD work on small forest owls in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona. I am always eager to gain experience and learn when opportunities like this arise. The fieldwork is intense but leaves you with a sense of impactfulness. Whether we spent the days searching for nest cavities in trees, ascending ladders to collect data from acoustic monitoring devices, or gathering micro-habitat information, I gained and improved many skills I can now fit into my tool bag.

The work I get to do is always so rewarding, but I think it’s the connections that are the most impactful to me. Kassandra and Dave Oleyar, one of Kassandra’s advisors, are some of the most compassionate and devoted people I have ever met. I can confidently say that I have never met anyone with more motivation and work-ethic than these two. Just being around them is inspiring and paints a picture of who I aspire to be as a biologist, human, colleague, and friend.”