Watershed to Wildlife, Inc.
Elise's Resume
elise@watershedtowildlife.com
Education
1995 Master of Environmental Design Environmental Science
Faculty of Environmental
Design,
Calgary
Focused study: Wildlife
1988 Bachelor of Arts,
Major: Biology
Minor: Environmental Economics
1984 Concord-Carlisle High School,
National Honor Society for
academic excellence
Experience/Employment History
2000 to present:
Owner/Partner of Natural Resource Consulting Company
Watershed to Wildlife, Inc.
Assist landowners, municipalities, and organizations with the following natural resource services:
- Recommend wildlife habitat improvements for landowners
- Inventory, monitor, and research wildlife
- Inventory and map natural resources of towns and watersheds
- Write and submit grants for funding
- Write custom land management plans
- Submit wetland permits to NH Department of Environmental Services Wetlands Bureau
- Test and analyze water quality, and recommend ways to improving quality
- Recommend erosion mitigation and control plans
- Design and layout trail systems and ponds
- Offer presentations, seminars, workshops to a variety of audiences all over New Hampshire
01/00 to present:
Science Faculty
College for Lifelong Learning, University of New Hampshire
Littleton, NH
- Organized and taught college level courses in Environmental Science, Winter Ecology, and Wildlife Ecology and Management through the University of New Hampshire, College for Lifelong Learning
- Developed course curriculum and syllabus, solely taught the courses, and evaluated students
- Units included, ecosystem management, forest management, endangered species/endangered spaces, wildlife management, biodiversity, winter ecology of plants and animals, snow morphology, and wildlife tracking
04/98 to 12/00:
Environmental/Wildlife Consultant
Otter Pond Environmental Consulting
Bethlehem, NH
Self-employed, and working with an interdisciplinary team (Forester, Landscape Designer and Watershed Specialist) promoting ecosystem based management for landowners throughout northern New Hampshire
- Make recommendations for wildlife habitat improvement as part of a multifaceted management plan
- Write management plans for state and federal cost-share programs involving wildlife habitat improvement
- Assist landowners in filing wetland permits
- Educate public, including students on ecosystem based management of the land
- Created a brochure, slide show and website (www.teamebm.com) for education and marketing of ecosystem based management services; update and maintain website
- Represent the team at trade shows and professional gatherings to explain the promote ecosystem based management
10/94 to 06/97: Moose
Research Biologist
Ministry of Natural Resources
Thunder Bay, Ont.
Organized and conduced a research program to investigate the impacts of forest management on moose, moose habitat and other wildlife in Northern Ontario
- Provided field research leadership including animal capture and handling, radio telemetry tracking, and habitat description
- Organized the deployment of 60 GPS collars onto moose throughout the study area
- Independently downloaded locational data stored on GPS collars
- Trained in GPS collar refurbishment
- Hired, trained and supervised 5-7 field technicians yearly for conducing inventories of moose aquatic feeding areas; aquatic plant inventories, moose presence
- Developed protocol for studying moose calving sites
Generated data summaries, technical reports and manuscripts for publication in primary scientific journals
- Utilized dBase, SAS, Ranges IV and V, Tracker, Home Range, Calhome, Spans, Arcview and Arcinfo to analyze moose home range size and movements in relation to different habitat types
- Reported summaries of data analyses via graphs, tables and written reports using Wordperfect, MS Word, MS Excel, Harvard Graphics, Powerpoint and Corel Presentations
- Presented results of the research at moose, caribou and wildlife conferences, and published papers
05/92 to 05/95: Wolf
Research Biologist Graduate Student
Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta
Work for Masters Degree Thesis
- Performed extensive literature review and integrated previous research with my research to develop a comprehensive wolf management plan for southern Alberta
- Negotiated with government agencies, livestock ranchers, hunters, trappers, and neighboring native communities to integrate a broad range of considerations in developing a wolf management plan throughout numerous overlapping jurisdictions
- Conducted research on wolves involving aerial and ground radio telemetry, ground tracking, scat collection, wolf kill site analysis
- Conducted ungulate surveys to aid in population estimates
- Ran a trapline to catch and radio collar wolves
- Utilized GIS Idirsi, Lotus and dBase to analyze data
- Educated the public of all ages on wolf ecology and population dynamics
- Successfully defended a masters level thesis that recommended a change in wolf management strategies for southern Alberta, and examined using wolves as indicator species to develop long range large carnivore conservation plans for the Rocky Mountain corridor
1988-1995: Field
Biologist/Technician
- Isle Royale, MI: Volunteered with wolf/moose study tracking wolves, gathering data on moose killed by wolves, and assessing general health of moose population
- Pukaskwa National Park, Ont.: volunteered with the trapping, radio telemetry and tracking of wolves; assisted in capture and radio collaring of caribou; performed home range analyses
- Sierra Nevadas, CA: performed radio telemetry, trapping and ear-tagging on Beldings Ground Squirrels to study their home range and reproductive succession during an internship
- Middlebury, VT: conducted an independent project studying the social behavior and hierarchy of Black-capped Chickadees. Work involved mist-netting and banding birds for visual observations
- Calgary, Alberta: Laboratory Technician studying cardiac arrhythmia and diet (10/90 to 06/91)
- Burlington, VT: Laboratory Technician studying Type I Diabetes (10/88 to 08/90)
Certificates/Scholarship
NH Wildlife Control Operator II Training - 2004
USACOE
Wetland Delineator Certification Program successfully completed - 2001
Coverts Project Co-operator University of
New Hampshire Cooperative Extension 1998
Chemical Immobilization and Handling of Animals Safe-Capture International, Inc. 1995
Basic Life Support For Children
and Adults Littleton Regional Hospital - 1998
Graduate Research Scholarship Faculty of Environmental
Design, University of Calgary 1993
Level I Certified Cross-Country Ski Coach 1988 and 1998
Publications
Lawson, E.J.G. and A.R. Rodgers. 1997. Differences in home range size computed in commonly used software programs. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 25(3):721-729.
Rodgers, A.R., R.S. Rempel, R. Moen, J. Paczkowski,
C.C. Schwartz, E.J. Lawson, and M.J. Gluck.
1997. GPS Collars for moose telemetry studies: a workshop.
Alces.
33:203-209.
Rodgers,
A.R., S.M. Tomkiewicz, E.J. Lawson, T.R. Stephenson,
K.J. Hundertmark, P.J. Wilson, B.N. White, and R.S. Rempel.
1998. New Technology for moose
management:
a workshop. Alces 34(1):239-244.
Community Involvement and Interests
2001-present: Member of NH
Association of Natural Resource Scientists
1997-2002: Chair, Bethlehem
Conservation Commission, New Hampshire
1998-2000: Board of Directors,
Weeks State Park Association, Lancaster, New Hampshire
2001-present: Member of New
England Wild Flower Society inventory rare and endangered species
1998-1999: Cross-Country Ski
Coach, Littleton High School, Littleton, New Hampshire
Interests include canoe
tripping, hiking, mountain biking, natural history, bird watching, gardening,
and wildlife tracking