Guiding large-scale, multi-state habitat conservation and management through coordinating among partners to expand habitat restoration activities and to maximize the habitat value of the Grand Bay Savanna Complex (GBSC). I plan and coordinate among all agencies and tribal interests (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), within the GBSC, engage with private landowners, and develop comprehensive management plans for the larger GBSC. Partners include U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and AL Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Developing relationships with private landowners of lands within the boundary of the GBSC is also of vital importance and includes developing legal conservation easements and Memorandums of Understanding to permit state and federal habitat management (prescribed fire, timber stand improvement, herbicide treatment of invasive plant species) on those private parcels. By maintaining cooperative relationships with stakeholders and partners within the GBSC, land management and monitoring activities can continue across unbroken tracts of land to maximize the ecological integrity of the landscape, the footprint of natural resource conservation is expanded, the construction and maintenance of firebreaks is reduced, and the potential for catastrophic wildfire is also reduced. My responsibilities also include wildlife monitoring (game species, and avian and herpetofaunal communities of the longleaf pine savanna), creating and updating thematic maps, map layers and metadata utilizing GIS (ArcPro, ArcGIS Online, and other ESRI products), and collaborating daily with the stewardship team to further longleaf pine habitat restoration efforts.

The primary focus of my position is to conduct wetlands restoration and mitigation research and experiments to further understand best practices related to wetland restoration and mitigation. My responsibilities also included wildlife monitoring (game species, and avian and herpetofaunal communities of the longleaf pine savanna), creating and updating thematic maps, map layers and metadata utilizing GIS (ArcPro, ArcGIS Online, and other ESRI products), and collaborating daily with the stewardship team to further longleaf pine habitat restoration efforts

My responsibilities included wildlife monitoring (game species, and avian and herpetofaunal communities of the longleaf pine savanna), contributing to the Grand Bay NERR herbarium collection, data collection and entry, creating and updating thematic maps, map layers and metadata utilizing GIS (ArcPro, ArcGIS Online, and other ESRI products), and collaborating daily with the stewardship team to further longleaf pine habitat restoration efforts.

As a contractor for the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, my duties included performing field work to gather data and monitor pine savanna habitat, and utilizing GIS to enhance monitoring and management efforts.