Alaina Dawson Email & Phone Number

Las Vegas, Nv, Us

Valdosta, Georgia, United States

Biological Planner in the National Wildlife Refuge System Inventory and Monitoring Branch of the South Atlantic-Gulf Region. Actively working on refuge-specific projects related to comprehensive conservation plans, habitat management plans, and inventory and monitoring plans. (GS-09)

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Assisting the Southeast Region (Region 4) of the USFWS Area II regional office staff with day-to-day tasks such as creating meeting agendas, compiling meeting minutes, being the liaison between office staff and field staff, assisting staff with scheduling meetings, reviews, and events. In charge of compiling weekly National Wildlife Refuge highlights which are sent to the Regional Chief as well as staff members located in the USFWS's headquarters office in Washington D.C. Continuing to assist Region 4 with their workforce alignment plan as it continues to be implemented and edited. (GS-05)

Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee Wildlife Refuge, Brooksville, Ms

Actively involved in the development, writing, and production of a plan for the future staffing of the 130 national wildlife refuges located within the southeastern states (Region 4) alongside service leaders and the Workforce Alignment Steering Committee. Worked and communicated in partnership with key members to meet required deadlines and create a comprehensive final product that reflects the views of all members involved. Regional travel/professional meeting attendance required. This work was done through the Student Conservation Association for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Graduate School Of Oceanography, University Of Rhode Island, Narragansett Ri

Conducted tagging and logging highlights from URI's E/V Nautilus and NOAA's Okeanos Explorer using Penglog while watching live feed and listening to RTS units for live corresponding audio, kept Mission Control neat and orderly, had awareness about projects that were going on, the depths of the ships, and knowledge of each expedition, ensured video products were being recorded on correct drives with correct feeds/times/dates, made sure all live feeds were running on respective websites , conducted troubleshooting if any issues arose, and occasionally participated in public outreach events. Former Student Intern from April-October 2015.

East Farm, Kingston Ri

Worked with a fisheries science professor at the University of Rhode Island in order to assist her in research regarding epizootic shell disease (ESD) on American lobsters. Three components of this project were 1) isolating and characterizing bacteria that could act as probiotics against bacterial isolates associated with ESD in lobsters; 2) testing the effect of probiotic treatment on progression of ESD on live lobsters; and 3) developing a protocol that fishers can use to manage ESD in lobsters. The project provided basic and applied information about microbe-microbe interactions that could affect the establishment and progression of ESD in lobsters.Duties included research regarding lobster shell biology, photo documentation of lesion progression, initial and final disease cover determination using the shell disease index (sum of percentage of coverage of tail, claws, and carapace), creating before and after diagrams of affected areas, feeding, and employment of treatments (including control).

Block Island, Rhode Island

Worked within the Marine Affairs department to gather data on public attitudes toward the Block Island Wind Farm project which began in 2015. Random sampling was done via brief surveys given to the public on Block Island which asked multiple questions regarding their feelings toward the project as well as their personal use of the island (i.e. occupation, recreation, etc.). This project required traveling to Block Island twice per week in order to engage with the public and gather data. Data was then evaluated based on factors such as project visibility and overall support.

North Kingstown, Ri

Conducted private, educational birthday parties for children ages 3-12 and hourly animal feedings/demos during general public walk-in hours which included live animal handling, feeding and food preparation, and communication of marine life information. Other daily tasks completed as needed such as desk work, event booking, and general exhibit//tank maintenance.

Matunuck, Ri

Prepared and stocked food in a fast pace environment, worked closely with co-workers to ensure quick and accurate transactions, operated cash register, cleaned food prep area, dishes, machinery, and dinning area while gaining valuable knowledge in costumer service, machinery operation, and health code regulations. Conducted opening and closing duties as the manager, including money and schedule handling.

Narragansett, Rhode Island

Worked with a sociology professor at the University of Rhode Island in order to assist her research on collecting data on the juvenile males who have entered the Ocean Tides program since 2006 (541 new cases added to the existing database of 1,585 cases) in order to track changes in outcome measures for them. This research addressed questions about the impact of state funding allocations on the well-being and rehabilitation of these juvenile offenders. Duties included reading through comprehensive information regarding each case in order to find key information which was then entered into an SPSS data base using specific, predetermined codes.

Graduate School Of Oceanography, University Of Rhode Island, Narragansett Ri

Reviewed and edited existing case studies written by Marine Protected Area professionals in East Africa in order to attain certification, made minor grammatical changes and improved the writing of each case study, communicated with MPA professional author for their final review of document, formatted case study into approved format, and uploaded final document to program website.

Westerly, Ri

Conducted weekly water quality testing (test levels of dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH, ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites), weekly aquarium and filter cleaning/maintenance, feeding/care of aquatic animals, engaged and educated public about animals at the center and the goals of Save the Bay.Gained valuable knowledge about aquaria care, water quality testing, aquatic animal care, public engagement and education, outreach and conservation management options.

Master Of Science (M.S.), Natural Resources Management And Policy, 3.93/4.0

Final research paper topic: How resource values affect policy in the New England Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus) fishery

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Marine Affairs, 3.58/4.0 (Magna Cum Laude)

Activities and Societies: Sigma Alpha Professional Agricultural Sorority (President 2016, Scholarship Chair 2015, Professional Development.